Re: Bush mideast policy

An alternative materialist explanation for Bush's mid-east policy lies
with the US desire to maintain secure control over oil.  At first this 
may seem counter-intuitive, insofar as the arab population is so
justifiably anti-Sharon.  However, Sharon shares with Bush & the CIA the
view of Iraq as a common enemy because his regime is the only serious
obstacle to complete US hegemony over the entire region--other arab states
included. This view assumes that arab states will continue to function as
coopted clients of imperialism, their populations sharing with the
palestinians the fate of eternal military occupation and repression.
My guess is that Cheney is expecting Sharon to succeed in bullying the 
Palestinians into impotence by using overwhelming force long enough for
Sharon's Isreal to serve--along with Turkey & Saudi Arabia--as the US's
forward bases in a likely renewed war with Iraq.  Their collective dream
is a renewed & invigorated colonization of the entire gulf region.  I
believe that these agenda's are far more salient to the NSC than any
idiosyncracies of personality such as "machismo."
        However, I also believe that these ambitions are grossly
inappropriate and doomed to bloody failure because of the depth of passion
on the arab street and the broad support for the palestinian cause
internationally.

--Peter Grimes