We should care what they think now so that we can remain trading partners after the shooting stops. After all, they do provide us with a large chunk of our oil. If they cut off the oil, we can always send in troops to take it and hold it. That would probably only require a half million or so US soldiers, plus the oil workers, if we held on to Saudi Arabia. It would be a lot easier in the long haul to maintain relations with those 'repressive governemnts' (isn't government repressive to some degree by nature?) than to attempt to conquer them by military force.
"Will the Islamic world hate us more than they do now? "
You base this statement on the actions of 20 fanatics? Have you been to the Islamic world? Why do the Northen Alliance of Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and so many other 'Islamic' governments consider us friends? Do you believe the actions of those 20 fanatics on 911 represent the attitudes of the entire Islamic world? That's a fascinating concept.
We should care what they think now so that we can remain trading partners after the shooting stops. After all, they do provide us with a large chunk of our oil. If they cut off the oil, we can always send in troops to take it and hold it. That would probably only require a half million or so US soldiers, plus the oil workers, if we held on to Saudi Arabia. It would be a lot easier in the long haul to maintain relations with those 'repressive governemnts' (isn't government repressive to some degree by nature?) than to attempt to conquer them by military force.
"Will the Islamic world hate us more than they do now? "
You base this statement on the actions of 20 fanatics? Have you been to the Islamic world? Why do the Northen Alliance of Afghanistan, Turkey, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, and so many other 'Islamic' governments consider us friends? Do you believe the actions of those 20 fanatics on 911 represent the attitudes of the entire Islamic world? That's a fascinating concept.
You assume that these nearly bankrupt nations can stop selling oil. You also assume that they could keep oil from reaching us, the oil market is a world market and an embargo isn't feasible. You ask why a number of Islamic governments consider us friends and then you don't answer the question so I will. Governments are only friendly when it is in their interest to be that way, and authoritarian governments are friendly dispite what their people think. Polls show that Islamic peoples already hate us and support OBL, and nothing we do can change that. So we should do what we have to, to protect ourselves and our way of life, no matter what it costs us in foreign good will. Let's face it, if our good deeds to date haven't generated enough foreign good will that we can't do what's necessary to protect ourselves, then nothing we do ever will.