President Disaster didn't have a clear plan at all and this is blowback.

Perhaps the 'death squad' approach was not planned at the outset. But after the initial failure of the occupation, it became Plan B. The so-called 'Salvador option for Iraq' was explicitly announced almost two years ago, in Newsweek magazine, by John "death squad" Negroponte, who helped to engineer similar US-supported death squads in Central America the 1980's. Now perhaps we are getting ready for Plan C.

KSA population is forecast to grow by 40%. The state is responsible for providing housing, food, jobs, etc.

WT: Trivia: KSA uses 74% as much oil as India (whose economy is 10.5X larger).

"the mullahs have helped it along by encouraging people to have fewer children"

Ahmadinejad urges Iranians to have more kids
(Oct 22, 2006)

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad’s remarks to a meeting of the government and parliament run counter to Iran’s long-held policy of controlling population growth

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10663272/

Ahmadinejad urges Iranian baby boom to challenge west

http://www.guardian.co.uk/iran/story/0,,1929364,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=1

Iran's basic interest is stability, same as for most nations. Putting a fist in the tar baby is not their interest. Finding Iran's hand in anything that makes Emperor Bush unhappy is silliness.

The mosque contains the crypts of two of the 12 sacred Imams. For a Shia to destroy this particular mosque would be very improbable. It would be like a Catholic blowing up the Vatican.

westtexas. I really trying hard not to get dragged into this - I speak Arabic and Farsi.

Essentially, you can look at the Shia as being Catholics and the Sunnis as Protestants. The Shia draw beautiful pictures of their most revered saints as you can see by doing a search for Ali bin abi Taleb. The Sunnis do not - because the 10 Commandments forbids it according to their interpretation. There are a lot of other differences of course - mostly tribal/national/racial. I hardly need remind you of the slaughter between Catholics and Protestant during a long period of European history.

Whereas in the USA it is not beyond the realm of the possible that 9/11 was orchestrated by Cheney and friends, and, whereas it is not beyond the realm of the possible that Putin and friends blew up some apartment blocks so as to get elected, similar behaviour is extremely unlikely in the guys running Iran. They are simply not wired up that way. A big part of the problem the USA has in Iraq has to do with imagining that the people there are like the folk back home - they are not. They are very religious/superstitious and anyway even making a suggestion like your would lead to ostracism.

In fact, a lot of people believe that the USA perpetuated the destruction of these holy places as the USA wanted to divide and rule - an old British policy in the area.

I hardly need point out that the creation of uniformed Shia death squads can be directly attributed to the USA - Mr John Negroponte is a bit of a past master at that type of thing by all reports. Furthermore, I note in today's papers that Maliki is asking for heavy weaponry so that the US can go home sooner. More of the same I guess.

Personally, I do not know what to believe about 9/11, the Moscow apartments and the recent poisonings. I took no part and don't know anyone who did. However, I can assure you that the Iranians did not destroy these sacred buildings.