[QUOTE=7_V]I believe that I'm right in saying that 15 of the 16 non-pilot terrorists involved in 9/11 were Saudi nationals and this was by design, not by accident. Thus the Americans became queasy about the stability and 'reliability' of Saudi Arabia as a future supplier of oil, fearing the possibility that Saudi might go the way of Iran. Bin Laden's plan was to drive a wedge between Saudi Arabia and the USA. It worked. Does that clarify?[/QUOTE] Yes, thanks. Mind you, personally I can't see it. Saudi Arabia is not only the site of Islam's two most holy places but also the territory of the Wahabis, one of the most puritanical of the Islamic sects. They have always fought hard against secularism and enemies of Islam. Saudis played a big part in the mujahedin who fought the Russians in Afghanistan and they were natural allies of the equally puritanical Taliban. That, plus the ability of Saudis to fly to the USA without problems made them natural candidates. And the plans to hit Iraq were already on the drawing board long before 11 September. So, when the war on terrorism wasn't going that well (and the maxim is that, in order to be popular and electable at home, you have to fight a [U]successful[/U] foreign war), Bushy boy only had to dust off the plans. To me, the preparedness to sacrifice 1000 (and counting) US lives and ten times that number (and counting) Iraqi lives for his own political ambition makes this cowboy the very worst type of villain.