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So I've surmised if we really got tough with them- the ramifications would have a negative effect on the global economy- hence our economy.

Anti-Terror Fight Has to Be a Marathon Run on Wilsonian Principle, Not Cheap Oil

Thomas L. Friedman
YaleGlobal, 8 February 2003
http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=913&page=1

(snip)
"Context is everything. Put Muslims or Jews or Hindus or Buddhists in a democratic context, and trust me, you will get and bring the best out of them. And context is exactly what has been ignored in the Middle East for the last fifty years. We have treated the Arab world as if it were simply a big dumb gas station. And we cared simply about two things: That the pump was open, the price was low, and in later years, that they be nice to the Jews. Just be nice to the Israelis, keep the pump open and the price low and you can do whatever you want out back. You can do whatever you want in your schools out there, in your newspapers, in your mosques, in your education, in your politics, in your jails; do what ever you want out back; just keep the price low and be nice to the Israelis. Well we paid a huge price for that on 9/11, because what hit us was what came from out back.

People say to me, "Friedman have you lost your senses? You want there to be an election in Saudi Arabia? Do you realize what happens if there is an election in Saudi Arabia? They will have a press that will spew hate, anti-Americanism, and anti-Semitism. They will have charities that will give money to the most radical, rabid fundamentalist groups and the most retrograde educators. They will turn a blind eye to terrorism nurtured within their midst." Well good morning merry sunshine. What do we have now? No, no, no. I want there to be an election in Saudi Arabia. I want the fundamentalists to win, because I want them to have to pay in retail for their fundamentalism. Now they pay wholesale. No, I want to look people in the eye and say, "My people, we are not going to sell oil and gas anymore to the infidels because they are infidels. Now that does mean if you're planning to send your kid to Yale next year, that's not on. And by the way if you haven't seen Disney World yet, you're too late." Oh, that's when we're going to trigger what we need to trigger. And that is not a war with Islam, but it is a war within Islam.