Good point Scott and it seems that Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf needs to walk outside and take a look around doesn't it.
It opened my eyes alot when I lived and worked overseas (and watched the local news on the single government run tv channel) and it made me thankful to live in America. I would recommend to anyone that if the opportunity ever presents itself to live/work overseas as a civilian to take it. It is most definitely an eye opening experience once you live amoungst the people and see the world from their point of view. I don't claim to be an expert on middle eastern affairs but I did live in the middle east long enough to understand and respect the values and beliefs of the Muslim people.
I actually sat down and watched 60 minutes this evening and heard for the first time the use of the term "Arab-American" war. I'm kinda in DH's camp when it comes to being very concerned about the can of worms we have opened. The people in the middle eastern countries are watching their local news that is making the US look bad and to me it is not at all hard to understand why the hatred of the US in that region will increase. Don't get me wrong I support American troops but do not believe we have any business being over there. So what if in Iraq they cut the tongue out of people that speak out against the government? Which is worse - getting your tongue cut out in Iraq or getting beaten 1/2 to death and then starved in a Saudi jail. What happens to the Cubans who speak out against their government? I'm sure it is along the same lines but we are not trying to liberate Cuba are we. Oh yea, I have lived among Cuban people in the US in south Fla and in my opinion they were some of the finest people I have ever run accross.
I guess the thing that bothers me the most is the fact that this is probably going to, in the mind of the people that live in the middle eastern countries, turn into a holy war because the Arab states see Muslims getting killed. They believe strongly in the saying "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth". Again, I have lived there and as long as these people are left alone they will leave you alone. The reason the World Trade center buildings got crashed into was because of the hatred toward the US for the meddling in the region (I guess you could consider a jetliner a "weapon of mass destruction" in that situation). It is unfortunate that we are probably setting ourselves up for more of this type of terrorist activity. I still have not seen any mention of the army uncovering any large manufacturing or storage facilities of "weapons of mass destruction" in Iraq. Maybe they showed it on the news that I don't watch
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Folks this ain't about freeing the people of Iraq. This is about controlling the SECOND LARGEST oil reserves in the world and reducing/eliminating the power of OPEC. If they did not have any oil we would not be over there "liberating" them from Saddam. Even one of those US government officials they interviewed on 60 minutes this evening mentioned the "vast resources" that we will have control over. I guess you could say we "win" when the oil companies get settled in but I have the uneasy feeling that this is going to get a whole lot worse before it gets better.