GOP presidential candidate for ’08, John McCain, says that “Al-Qaeda must revel in the irony that Americans are effectively helping to fund both sides of the war they caused. As we sacrifice blood and treasure, some of our gas dollars flow to the fanatics who build the bombs, hatch the plots, and carry out attacks on our soldiers and citizens. The transfer of American wealth to the Middle East helps sustain the conditions on which terrorists prey.” (Marianas Variety Guam Edition, Apr. 24, 2006, Page 19)
Does the United States buy oil from Iran? No. They, the Iranians, sell their oil in the world market and fund both sides of the war they caused.
Does the United States buy oil from Iran? No. Still they, the Iranians, sell their oil in the world market and fund terrorist, activities in Lebanon, the Palestinian terrorities and elsewhere. So foreign-oil reliance is not going to solve that piece of the problem.
And since John McCain brought up Al-Qaeda, its top gun, Osama Bin Laden, is a Saudi national, like most of the 9/11 hijackers (the rest were from Egypt). All of whom hate their respective governments for their warm, cozy ties to the United States. Particularly McCain’s best friend now, GW Bush and his dad and the Carlyle Group — high finance folks with their convoluted ties to the House of Saudi. (Remember too that the 9/11 Commission said 9/11 was due to an intelligence weakness, not an immigration one. But the far right always wanted to go after poor folks so GW Bush let them.)
I really feel sorry for the good senator from Arizona, who is a centrist Republican, who has not shied away from criticizing the Bush cabinet when he feels the need to do so, but who has veered off-course from his ‘Straight Talk’ style just to woo to the same hard right who will help determine who comes out on top in the closed GOP primary states. That is why polls (national) show him lagging other GOP nominees not just the Dems as the public at large view the Iraq war — the blood and treasure McCain speaks of — as the worst foreign policy disaster in modern U.S. history.
When the right criticizes France and other “weak” Euro states for being “chummy” with Saddam, what they fail to mention is that those states have to be “chummy” since they do not have the ‘best military-money-can-buy,’ i.e., the United States military. Now just because you have the best, should you use it thoughtlessly like Bush did?

MATT PHILLIPS
Mangilao, Guam