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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Mr. Forthright who wrote (309835)	10/19/2002 3:45:34 PM
From: Kenneth E. Phillipps	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

We need to crush the Arab dictators... That kind of talk makes moderate Arab states like Turkey very nervous.

To: Mr. Forthright who wrote (309835)	10/19/2002 4:00:40 PM
From: MSI	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 769670

With that premise, yes, the only way out is (a)effective self-defense solely or with allies, or (b)kill them all. that religious fanatics (read Muslim fanatics - Islamofacists) are out to kill non-Muslims for the hell of it. When you listen to various sources of rhetoric, however, the common thread is not the Bush line of "gee, they're jealous of our prosperity and ... freedom". The common thread is: "get out of our holy blood feuds because that makes you an enemy". It's highly profitable politically and financially to have influence in the M.E. oil policy and geopolitically to increase military expenditures. Billions have and are being made by those with that influence, since Nixon's time. The failing Bush popularity of 9/10/2001 is saved solely by putting the country as much as possible on a war footing and by continuing terrorism here and abroad. The truth is, the US has no business being in the M.E. We can find oil elsewhere more cheaply than the $50/bbl it costs us with military support, and any oil not purchased by the US cannot be absorbed by the rest of the world at the rate sufficient to keep those dictators in business. As Kissinger said, in one of his rare moments of public honesty:"we do not have the solution for their problems". If we get the hell out of Israel and the M.E., and offer only arms-length UN-based arbitration and peacekeeping, they may disappear or blow themselves up, but they will not be successful in blaming the US for their problems. As it is, the most powerful argument the Islamists have for recruiting new suicide terrorists is "Look at the destruction rained down by the US". That argument doesn't work if the rest of the world sees the US as being honorable and credible. Your view is that this doesn't matter, these Islamist warlords will continue to terrorize the US regardless. Considering the personal and political profit to the Bushes and GOP, and the radical change in policy I'm skeptical.