Teribus--

Temper, temper, little man.

And I'm so sorry to tell you you're still wrong about the Saudis and al-Qaeda. You must be even less aware than I had thought not to realize that the current Saudi regime feels as much--or more-- under pressure from al-Qaeda as the US does.

When you look for simplistic interpretations of international affairs, you need look no further than your mirror.

Eventually you'll have to learn that there is a huge difference between al-Qaeda and the vast majority of Iraqi Sunnis--and the conduct of the former is making the gap a chasm.

I know you like to look at international relations in simple black and white terms. Shiites in Iraq good; Sunnis in Iraq: bad.

But if you ever hope to start to understand what's going on over there--and I'll have to say, your progress is painfully slow--you'll have to realize that most Sunnis want what most Shiites and Kurds want--peace and the improving economy that comes with it. The Sunnis in Iraq are not, contrary to your strongly held misconception, like the Nazis in Germany in 1945.

I repeat--and your sputtering in opposition, while mildly amusing, is somehow bereft of any facts: al-Qaeda will not be the beneficiary of any pro-Sunni moves by the Saudis.

And since no national state wants to support al-Qaeda, and neither Shiites, Kurds nor Sunnis in Iraq want to support it either--thanks to its thuggish "Puritanism"--there is no danger of al-Qaeda taking over in Iraq.

Therefore, the US can--and should--bring its combat troops home from Iraq--now-aside from in "Kurdistan" where they are wanted and serve the purpose of deterring any rash Turkish moves in trying to combat the PKK.

Your amorphous threats that this move will mean US self-destruction are somehow not convincing. Maybe it has something to do with the fact that your attitude is totally lacking in any factual basis or logic.

Or perhaps it's something else.