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To: Douglas V. Fant who wrote (28651)	8/31/1998 2:57:00 PM
From: Katherine Derbyshire	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 95453

OFF TOPIC >>So I "stick my neck out" and predict another Middle eastern war over the next ten years. But this war will not be over religion or the US/Isreal/Plaestine, but over water rights.... And oil prices will rise...<< Deep down, aren't most wars about economic issues? Sure, the fundamentalists who blow up embassies talk about religious issues, but it sure seems that they get most of their appeal by persuading poor, downtrodden people that (a) their plight is inflicted upon them by The Oppressor (the US), (b) the elites in their own countries are corrupt and/or in league with The Oppressor (often true), and (c) not only is it possible to do something about this awful situation, but God wants you to free yourself. Seems like an awful lot of wars through the centuries have started the same way. IMO, to dismiss terrorists as "crazy religious nuts," or to argue about which religion has a better claim to the truth, misses the point: a very large number of people who happen to be Moslem are extremely unhappy with their current living conditions, and they have the means and the leadership to do something (blow up embassies, topple governments) about it. Until they are offered a better alternative, they're going to keep fighting their war. Where's the carrot to go with the cruise missile stick? It's also, IMO, pretty hypocritical to forget the huge amount of money that the US funneled to the mujahadeen (sp?) when they were "oppressed freedom fighters" against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. They haven't changed their ideals since then, they've just become too successful and confident to manipulate easily. Katherine