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Let me apologize for my cute expat comment before.

I believe we are much closer an understanding here than evident at first.

I believe it is imperative that the U.S. is in the Mid East for two basic reasons:

The defense of democracy via Israel.

The defense of oil reserves for all the westernized world.

For those who beleive we don not belong in the Mid East it is important to understand that the U.S. did not create the state of Israel. We can look to Britain and the United Nations for that dubious distinction. The U.S. is involved solely for the reasons above.

The Bush administration has undertaken a bold, and yes very risky, geopolitical move in Iraq. But it is tremendous when you consider the strategic placement of U.S. military. This is the boldest strategy in the last 75 years and it makes perfect sense. If we fail it will set back the cause of democracy, embolden Islamic terrorism and result in immense damage to U.S. prowess and credibility. If we succeed it will change forever the politics and economics of the Mid East as well as the rest of the world.

I, for one, am willing to make the bet.

DogAnchor, I agree with your view. Preventing cooperation of Iraq and Iran in case of Saudi meltdown was an imperative and big picture indeed does make perfect sense.

I am just curious about "This is the boldest strategy in the last 75 years"

To what bold strategy from 1929 you were referring to?

The rise of Hitler?

I believe it is imperative that the U.S. is in the Mid East for two basic reasons: 1) The defense of democracy via Israel; 2) The defense of oil reserves for all the westernized world.

You're making Expat's point. Neither of these two reasons was used by the Bush administration in its justification for the war back in late 2002.

There's a simple reason for that . . . If the Bush administration had publicly stated what you just posted here, it would have obtained neither public support nor (almost by definition) Congressional approval for the war.

I am truly amazed at how many conservatives have completely bought into the "weapons of mass destruction" nonsense that this administration used for no other reason than to secure public support for the war among the dopey soccer moms who were such strong supporters of Bill Clinton throughout the 1990s.