Is this the core reason for Middle East Occuption?

(China rules the rare earth)
The global race to grab a share of rare earth metals in Central Asia has begun.

Asia is at the centre of an inevitable development of our digital world: the coming mineral wars.

The computer you are using to read this article is already involved in a global war.

Oil wars? Water wars? Sure - they will continue to define the geopolitics of the early 21st century. But in high-technology terms, nothing compares with the coming mineral wars. And the name of the game is rare earth.

Asia is the land of rare earth - the minerals that allowed the digital revolution to happen, and that are making green technology a reality. China controls no less than 95 per cent of the global production of rare earth.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/08/2011818...