faceking,
It is good to see you back and in rare form. I am a latecomer to this thread and I just read through it. I am responding to a couple things you said back aways.
One thing was about moving the Israelis back to Europe and let the middle east sink back into the 9th century. I love your sense of humor even when you are serious. First let me say that I think their target is more like the 4th century, but that doesnt' change your basic concept. My answer to your suggestion is: YOU FORGOT ABOUT THE OIL!!!!!! Why do you think we are messing around there in the first place. Oil, and the powerful pro-Israeli lobby.
Also, you wanted to know why they might be mad at us over there. Its because of stuff like
this. Now I hate terrorism and fundamentalism with a passion. But I am not stupid enough to meddle in the affairs of another culture, brutalize them and be essentially clueless about the consequences and not expect a few people to be mad at me.
They don't hate us for our success. They hate us because they see the west as evil. Ordinarily that would not be enough to provoke this kind of terrorism, however, in this case, they see us an active evil that is preventing them from creating the kind of theocratic state they have been lusting for since the fall of the Ottoman empire.
Again, I am not saying I agree with their view of the west, but I also can't close my eyes to the mistakes we have made over there and make up other excuses to why they might be mat at us.