Kate, > i believe about 2/3 of usa oil comes from the middle east...(not checking > sources here just off the top of my sorry memory banks)
Two people on the list who detest Bush and are anti-war were the first ones who told me that we only got 10% from the entire mid-east. I subsequently read up on it and the official sources said it was around 20-25% with 10% of that from Iraq in exchange for humanitarian services. We got out of our dependency decades ago after repeated moves from the Arab OPEC members to hold us hostage to the oil. Remember the oil crises in the 70s? > as to the motivations of mega rich men...well when you do not have to think > about accumulating wealth you are motivated by other things...it is not > about personal greed but it can be about personal power which is a big > motivator &/or wanting to leave a legacy for the family name...this is what > motivates many people in their later years, & what they leave as their > legacy depends on their ideology... Well, yeah, but both Bushes and Cheney are putting themselves on the line as the number one targets to be taken out and obviously know that the biggest bullseye is on their heads and the heads of their families, right? I don't think they want to risk personal suicide for a legacy. Bushes were born rich and their wealth goes back generations. Cheney made most of his money only the last few years after he retired from public service and went to work for Halliburton. The single most reason he made so much money is that Common Cause and other organizations insisted he sell off all his Halliburton stock before he ran for Vice President. He was forced to do that and the timing of it just happened to be when the stock was high and before it crashed. > yes & it seems to me that same logic seems to apply to many in this country > as well...attrocities have been commited by our country & other countries ad > nasueum...when do we call a hault to this kind of blaiming & finger pointing > & war mongering & start working on real solutions...starting with having > some basic understanding of other cultures would be a nice start... That's fine but haven't we tried to do this for years in the mid east? We have our own problems in our country that preoccupy us - and are only human in that we can only do so much. We don't have all the magic answers for solving all the rest of the world's problems. I think you underestimate the ability of Americans to be enlightened and compassionate. It breaks my heart completely and leaves me mostly speechless that you and many others on the list seem to truly believe that anyone with a different idealogy in your own country is less than human and all to blame for any problems not only in the coutnry but in the world. I just can't get over it. I always thought we were all one people in the end, but what I read here tells me that maybe that was never true. I don't know what to do about it other than to hope it changes some day. Kakki
