The life blood of Western civilization flows through the Middle East. ZERO ability to topple the USA? Really. They could sure force us into tents in a matter of months (we won’t call it toppling). Try $10/gal or more gasoline on for size. The economy would break and fast without the free flow of oil to the world markets. Japan goes under in 10 minutes and because of Globalization we follow down the toilet shortly thereafter. We stand teetering on the edge of the abyss with Pelosi calling the shots. Bush has lost the funding battle and we will lose the war unless the moron public gets a grip soon. The genocide (Give peace a chance) can change the world as we know it.
For every $1 oil goes up, that's $7.5B that it costs extra to import into the US. Current high gas prices are more of a result of a decrepit refining capacity than anything else.