joeclarke, you would tell me that the Saudi student is as informed of the world as you and I are? I'd say that you don't know what you're talking about. In Iraq, the text books didn't have world maps until the final years of high school. If the news and/or agencies doesn't please the Shieks in ANY muslim nation then it is either a lie or Western propaganda. It's all about controlling the mob. Except for the case of Iraq I'd say that most of the Mid-East countries the government fears the mob and the mob is controled by the religious leaders. In the Muslim world if you aren't an extremist then you're a traitor. Mid-East Islam is a business. You and others keep talking about the oil. (Oh yes, it's in great demand around the world. The U.S. is not the only country that buys oil. Remember China?) Someone is getting mighty rich and it is definately not the common man. The people don't see any of the profits but somebody does... The same Shieks that you see on posters during the protests against the U.S.
Those of you that have never lived in a communist nation and/or under a dictator may have a slight understanding of the issues at hand but they don't know what it feels like to be paranoid and scared of the government. I grew up in communism and even though I was younger I can still remember the propaganda. I follow eastern European developments and almost 15 years after the fall of the Soviet Union the government still owns and/or controls most of the media.
Let's also not forget the Palestenian families of the martyrs who kill Israelis because Allah wishes. They recieved $15-20k checks as a gift from Saddam and he would pay more to see Americans die. It's people like you who very quickly forget the thousands that died in 9/11. I just got back from a deployment to Iraq and I don't regret one second of it. I know that the few people that are free thinkers in Iraq and around the world understand the price we have paid for their freedom and they will not forget.
Last thing, I didn't intend this to be a personal attack on joeclarke and I apologize because I know it sounded like it. Instead I want it to be an attack on the leftists in general.
Cheers,
Serge