"jps" wrote in message
...

Let me ask you freakin', what interest does the US have in the mideast
that's more compelling than ensuring the free flow of oil?

jps

Sand?

Bzzzt. Nope, got plenty of that. Try again.


Well, let's see....the Saudis are our single biggest customer for weaponry.
The royals live in constant fear of their Wahhabi lunatic population, even
though the government supports the very schools that produce them. The more
we do to meddle in the Middle East, the more religious fanatics we **** off,
the greater the perceived need for the Saudi royals to buy weapons. Lots of
weapons. And, every prince involved with the purchasing of weapons skims
off a few million bucks a year, more than enough to pay for their fancy digs
in France, Colorado, etc.*

It's just good business. Good for the defense biz, good for the real estate
biz, good for the oil biz.


*We're currently investigating military personnel who took "commissions" on
all sorts of things involving the war in Iraq. But, in Saudi Arabia, it's
legal and it's a tradition.