"thunder" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 04 Oct 2005 13:32:54 +0000, NOYB wrote:



I believe the true
purpose of our going into Iraq was to permanently station troops in the
Middle East on the borders of Iran, Syria, and Saudi Arabia...so that we
didn't need to leave our troops in Saudi Arabia.

I don't doubt that is true, as per the PNAC policy papers, but we have yet
to hear it from anyone in this administration. It's also been glazed over
that the reason bin Laden declared war on us, was exactly those troops in
Saudi Arabia. So, did Bush capitulate to bin Laden? Our troops have left
Saudi, and bin Laden is still out and about.

I believe that it's a case of "be careful what you wish for". bin Laden
wanted us out of Saudi Arabia, but I doubt he wanted 5 times as many troops
in the country next door.

When we left Saudi Arabia, the Saudi royals were having a hard time with
internal strife, and were in real danger of losing control of the country.
By leaving, we removed a huge burden on them, as there was no longer a casus
belli among the Saudi population to overthrow the royals.

Regardless, we're better situated now to deal with any threats arising from
the Middle East.