Another reason our country is well and truly fucked!!

[Lew]

Pina-

As happens so often, your points are valid in theory, but simply don't wash in the practical sense. The Middle East was a "hotbed" for us long before the Iraq war and long before 9/11. I can't hardly say this without being labeled and anti-semite, but the fact is, you have a multimillenial conflict here, and we took a side in it. Personally, I would never have taken sides. I would have bought the oil, and let them all fight amongst themselves.

Well, it didn't work that way. We took a side, and the old rule is that the friend of your enemy is also your enemy, too. Ergo, they don't like us. And they aren't going to like us as long as we are the friend of their enemy. And we are going to remain friends with Israel forever, so quite honestly, let's not kid ourselved into ever thinking there will be peace in the Middle East.

And like I said, I wish it wasn't that way. I wish we'd had a President at some point who would have taken a pro-active stance in Arab-U.S. relations, regardless of what Israel thought about it.

Not to be. Therefore, we must look to Mr. Myagi for guidance, and he tells us- "Don't fight. But if you must fight, win."

We're in it, and no matter what happens, we are always going to be in it. Therfore, I suggest a serious ass-kicking. If you have a better solution that not only works on paper but could work in practice, I'm all ears....

[jumper69]

We've lost the war on terrorism....