here is where the US problems in mid-eastern countries begin......the US wants oil. instead of drilling our own oil fields or actually putting real research into alternative fuels, we allow US oil companies to deal with these middle eastern countries. this makes the oil companies rich and it makes those in control in those countries rich. but it does nothing for the citizens in those countries. so the resentment begins when the leaders of say, Saudi Arabia, are billionaires and the average Saudi makes barely enough to feed his family. so they could oust their own government, which would be the right thing to do. but if they try it, or if a crazy Iraqi leader comes calling, then our government will step in to protect the interests of the oil companies and the billionaire oil owners. and the creates even more resentment and hate. people seem to forget, before 1990 Saddam and Bin Laden were both US allies. Saddam felt that Kuwait rightfully a part of Iraq, so he invaded. Bin Laden wanted the Saudi government to allow AL Qaeda to force Iraq out, but he was not taken seriously. so he felt double betrayed because he wasn't taken seriously and because he, a muslim leader, was taking a backseat to the Americans even in the middle east. so he started recruiting and brainwashing poor muslims to hate the US and commit terrorist acts. not trying to defend terrorists in any way, but it is unfortunate that we've allowed our government to build this monster.
as for Iraq, there's no doubt that Saddam was a mad man. but the fact is that both Shiites and Sunnis sides appear to be completely irrational. while no one should condone what Saddam did, at the very least, he kept the peace in the country. and as an added bonus, he kept Iran in line. now he violated UN sanctions, there's no doubt about that. but that should've been for the UN as a whole to deal with. I agree with anyone who says that the UN is lax and maybe a bunch of wusses. but at least they may have the foresight to have seen the consequences of removing Saddam from power. Bush was too quick to want to go to war. some of it may have been good intentions, but for the most part I think he wants to protect these rich companies' business interests and get a little revenge for his father. and this is where it's brought us. we're in the middle of a full blown civil war and Iran is licking their chops for us to leave so that they can take over.
the point with this war is maybe a more eloquent way of what Seasalt101 was saying......when a civilized nation goes to war, there are rules that have to be followed. but when you're fighting an enemy that follows no rules and is willing to use women and children as targets....there's no way to fight a war with someone like that unless you're willing to stoop down to their level.
as far as Iran, they actually used to be tight allies with the US. but even back then in the 70s, the US government corrupted Iran's leadership and built animosity up amongst the Iranian people. so when the Ayotollah was able to take over, the hated us and have hated us ever since. Ryan asked about Iran's leadership in a much earlier post. Iran is run by a kind of "board of trustees" that are a group of Ayotollahs (basically, extreme Islamists) and the president, Ahmendinijad or whatever is name is, is kind of the spokesman for the group.
I won't even touch on the Israel/Palestine issues as I've gone on very long. I'm pro-Israel. I'm not trying to take up for muslim extremists in anyway, but I think all those relations and fighting should be handled with care. and I don't think Bush and his cronies were the ones to lead us to war.
****
now, I saw someone say that the Old Testament is just as violent as the Quran. if you can point out any part in the Old Testament where the Christian God calls on man to kill in His name, please point it out. I can remember severals parts where God forbids man to kill in His name.
I believe the book of Revelations says that Armageddon will be fought between Iran/Russia vs Israel/"a western power". so given the state of current affairs, things don't look good. I believe Israel will attack Iran if Iran gets nuclear weapons. and if that happens, I think Russia will come to Iran's aid and we'll take Israel's side. I think very dark days are coming.
