re: "You're Still a Superpower"

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Interesting post and lots of food for thought including a couple angles I never thought about. I've always known about how we need the Mideast and their natural resources and why the Iraq war was incentive driven for some American politicians. I've never really thought about it from the middle easterners end and what vested interest they have in us.

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Another case-in-point is Qatar. They run al-Jazeera. They are one of the top state sponsors of Hamas. Doha is the financial laundromat for pretty much every terrorist group, and several members of the ruling Thani family have al-Qaeda links.

Despite this they also host three US military bases. They bought eleven figures' worth of helicopters and missiles from us this year. They are generous with their oil and grease palms for Western prestige projects like the World Cup.

Almost every Arab nation does this. They play both sides, America and the Islamists. America gives them military cover and political cover. Islamists go Somewhere Else, hopefully to scare America instead of getting any ideas at home. Rinse repeat.