Given the fact that the real opponent of the USA in this long-running, largely secret war between Muslim fundamentalism and oil-control versus USA neoconservative fundamentalism and oil-control is....

(drum roll)

*** Saudi Arabia ***

Which is the source of the oil money which has funded Al Queda. Which is the home of the Wahabbis, the most militant fundamentalist sect of Islam. Which supplied 15 of the 19 hijackers on 911, and undoubtedly funded and prepared that effort over long period of time. Which utterly hated Saddam's secular Sunni administration, and has hoped for its destruction for some time. Which is the home of Osama Bin Laden and the wealthy family from which he comes. Which funded the Taliban in Afghanistan, and is busy attempting to subvert and takeover more moderate Muslim administrations in numerous countries, using its oil money and its clerics and its terrorist-training squads.

Given those factors...it is very peculiar indeed that the USA has taken a course where it attacks Iraq, and threatens Syria...both rather secularly-minded Muslim administrations disliked by the Wahabbis.

Absolutely bizarre in fact, except for this:

The Saudis also are cooperating fullscale with western oil companies, and are providing the largest source of oil to the western world ("business as usual"), which makes them very valuable to the West. And they are buying more expensive high tech arms from the USA than any other Arab customer at the present time (and have built some amazing state-of-the-art airbases with underground hangars that rival the best American facilities of that type...this observed by American military personnel who've flown from those bases recently.)

This argues strongly against any attack on Saudi Arabia. Don't shoot the goose that lays the golden eggs, even if that goose does secretely dispatch suicide bombers to knock down your skyscrapers.

Another reason not to attack the Saudis: They are the home to Mecca and Medina, and the holiest shrines of Islam. To attack them would probably start a 3rd World War with all Muslims on the planet fighting the USA. This is not deemed advisable by anyone, except possibly Osama and a few Wahabbi fanatics, certainly not by the Saudi monarchy, who are playing both sides of the game, and staying rich in the process.

So, what you do is instead attack one of their surrogates, the Taliban, which will do them some indirect damage, and send a message ("don't mess with us").

Then you have the problem of worrying about a possible uprising in Saudi Arabia, which could knock off the corrupt monarchy which plays ball with your oil industry at any time, and replace it with a Wahabbi religious government of the most extreme sort. Ouch! That could be a catastrophe, and might deny the USA its primary base of operations and source of oil in the Middle East.

What to do?

Well, invade Iraq, that's what. Iraq had nothing to do with 911 or Al Queda, but it doesn't matter. What does matter is that Iraq has the 2nd largest oil deposits, and can provide a potential base of operations in the strategic area...in case there is a regime change in Saudi Arabia! And it sends another strong message to the Saudis ("See this, pal? We can bring in 300,000 men any time we want, and a whole fleet of aircraft carriers, and we can CONQUER a whole country any time we want to with them...so DON'T get carried away, okay? Just keep shipping that oil, and don't do anything stupid.)

And that, I submit is what lies behind the War on Iraq. It's strategic maneuvering, aimed at the future of the American presence in the Middle East.

As for the Saudis, they have been playing a very devious game, playing both ends against the middle, and it is a secret war. The Wahabbis are like the neo-cons who counseled Bush and Reagan...they are capable of anything in their search for ultimate victory.

***(Now the above is a theory. I may be right, I may be only partially right, I may be wrong...but I think it's a strong possibility.)

- LH