You don't seriously think the average citizens of the Mid-East are seeing the money from the oil the USA buys, do you?

Because the USA imports more oil from Canada than it does the whole Middle East and I can tell you I haven't gotten a checque yet.

No matter where you get your oil, the money goes to the huge multi-national corporations who drill for it and charge everybody, even the people in the country it originates from, the same price for the resource. It doesn't trickle down.

There is a huge class system in the Middle East, the very rich elite, and a lot of poverty and ignorance thrown into the mix. You're right; it IS a 7th century feudal-type of social system. All the poor have got that's THEIRS is their religion. Unfortunately, there are a lot of hate-mongers in it, carving out their own little niche and exploiting anti-western prejudice. And it's becoming more rampant. The Iraq invasion didn't help matters in any way.