another backfire, maybe. or, maybe not.

getting into the war, who were the most vehement agitators of longest standing? certainly not the inhabitants of israeli american think tanks like PNAC, AEI, JINSA and AIPAC.

i know you are trying to keep focussed, all of you, but this thing is way too big to stick in one box.

and if you start factoring in sea level rise from global warming, overshoot of the natural warming cycle, and a potential sea level rise of 240 feet, you begin to see reasons why israel needs to get started on the greater israel project, now, before peak oil cripples american support for israel.

and nobody in a million years is allowed to ask himself: who benefited from 9/11, who was in position to pull it off, who was in position to promulgate the official conspiracy theory. who was in position to turn the investigations into whitewashes and coverups, and, finally, who called for "a new pearl harbor" in september of 2000 to kick off the program we now see being implemented?

I think your point is valid, although I'm not sure we tread exactly the same ground when it comes to the Iraq war.  I don't think Bush and his cabinet wanted the US or US companies to end up owning Iraq's wells outright - even the most obtuse politician would understand the likely response across the rest of the Arab world.  But certainly they wanted a Iraq government that would be friendly to our mindset, one that would support aggressive new production development and would serve as a good pro-democracy, pro-free market example to nearby neighbors.

So much for that thought.

Whether on not Hussein posed a real threat I agree that Iraq's oil revenues gave him the capability to follow through and without those revenues he would have been ignored.

At least our troubles in Iraq clearly demonstrate the difficulty of imposing the government of out choice on another nation.  Hopefully even if neocon ideology continues to hold sway after the next election the next administration will use or not use our military might with more wisdom.  I also hope the American public is wary enough of overseas military adventures that even when our oil supply problem really becomes desperate they will seek solutions within our borders.  Better to sacrifice our freedom to drive around the block at will and avoid taking the bus to work than any more of our soldiers' blood.  As scary as rationing is to a politician I don't see many of them favoring the blood for oil trade.  But perhaps I'm too much of an idealist.