India. India is an Asian country, located in South Asia. India has been called 'the world's largest democracy' because it has a democratic form of government and it's population exceeds one billion. The smallest units of Indian democracy are village councils called Panchayats.
Above: A package of Inkjoy pens, that were manufactured in India. I bought these at a store in Warren, Michigan in July, 2013.
Iran. An Asian couhtry located it the Middle East region of South Asia.
On August 3, 2016, news reports said that an unmarked American cargo aircraft had landed in Iran in January, 2016 and that 400 million dollars in cash was unloaded form the plane, and this money was given to the Iranians. American hostages who had been held in Iran were released from captivity within hours of the delivery of the 400 million dollars, so it was widely believed that the 400 million dollars was a ransom payment, and the hostages were released because the U.S. government had paid the ransom to the Iranians. The U.S. goverment denied this, and repeated their position that they do not pay ransom to hostage-takers, The U.S. goverment then released an improbable story that said the 400 million dollars was payment on a debt owed to the Shah of Iran.
Iraq. An Asian country located in the Middle East region of South Asia.
Above: Photograph of the book 'Curveball' by Bob Drogen, 2007. In 1999 an Iraqi chemical engineer came to Munich, Germany, and applied for politcal asylum. He claimed to have information about Iraq's chemical-weapons program. Americans got invloved in his interrogation, and he was given the code name 'Curveball'. Despite problems with Curveball's credibility, President Bush used Curveball to bolster his claims of Iraq's 'Weapons Of Mass Destruction' and to justify America's war against Iraq. The Weapons Of Mass Destruction were never found.
Above: The Iraq Study Group Report, by James A. Baker, and Lee H. Hamilton. Subtitled: 'The way forward, a new approach'.
Iron Curtain. The term 'Iron Curtain' was a term used by American journalists to describe the split between Eastern and Western Europe, or generally, the split between communism and capitalism.
Above: Iron Curtain by Anne Applebaum, copyright 2012. Subtitled: 'The crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1256'.
Israel. A Middle East nation on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, populated mostly by ethnic Jews, or Israelis. Isreal was a British colony prior to 1948. In 1948 the United Nations (an international dipomatic organization based in New York, U.S.A.) supported the creation of the state of Israel. Several Arab nations in the region immediately declared war on Israel when Israel was officially created in 1948. According to the English translation of the Great Soviet Encyclopedia, the official ideology of the Israeli state is Zionism. Israel has been invoved in a nearly constant series of conflicts with it's Arab neighbors since it's creation in 1948.
Above: An example of a product manufactured in Israel. The plastic tool box shown above was made in Israel, it was purchased in a store in Detroit in January, 2016.
Above: Atlas of the Arab-Israeli Conflict by Martin Gilbert, copyright 1974.
Copyright 2012 Ratkov.com. All rights reserved.