Unfortunately I am starting to believe that both Gulf Wars and 9/11 are our fault. Now before you start screaming, allow me to illucidate.

We supported the previous Ba'athist regime in its fight to take control of Iraq which eventually gave us Saddam Hussein in power. We then supplied him with weaponry (including bio/chem)and training for the war against Iran (whom we were pissed with over the hostage crisis (The result of the overthrow of the Shah of Iran, another best buddy of the US). We also supported the Afghanis against the USSR (which was probably a mistake as it would have caused the USSR to go bankrupt that much faster if they ahd had to keep fighting). The USSR withdrew fom the God-forsaken desert of Afghanistan and in the vacuum of power left the Taliban stepped forward with strict Sharia law. The Afghani struggle against the USSR was also the training ground for Bin Laden and his followers to learn tactics to use against us. Saddam, emboldened by our support for him against Iran, invaded Kuwait because of a border dispute. We went in (thus incurring the wraith of those Islamics who don't want Infidels in the "Holy Lands of Mecca", namely Bin Laden.

I think the lesson to be learned here is that every move the US has made in the middle east seems to have come back and bitten us in the ass. I'm not for isolationistic policies, but in this day of so-called supercomputers I wish someone would program one to look at possible ramifications of our actions 20 to 30 years down the line.