I will agree with you there. Lawrence of Arabia is an excellent movie, and in my top 3 favorite of all time. And I will also agree that it has a lot to do with the partitioning of the ottoman empire after world war I. However it may not have been as bad if the British did not bolster the Ottomans during the course of the 19th century...and it was all because they did not want the Russians to gain a warm water port... However back on topic. Yes the Chinese and the Japanese as well as the EU have many investments in the US, just as we have many investments in them. Yes we had a surplus during the Clinton administration but that was only because the military budget was cut. Many do not realize this but many people were forced to retire from the service, my uncle included. He served for almost 30 years in the special forces including a number of years as a Nightstalker, for those of you who do not know what that is watch Black Hawk Down. He fought in Panama, Bosnia, etc. And after all of his years of service what happened? Oh we cannot promote you because we cant afford to have any more Colonels in our Army. With every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. The surplus due to the war is mainly because we got rid of personnel and weapons.

You want to get out of deficit spending? Cut the salaries of our congressmen and president. Legalize marijuana and regulate it. STOP PORK LEGISLATION. NO REASON TO BUILD A BRIDGE IN ALASKA THAT COSTS BILLIONS OF $$$. These along with the war of course are the reasons that we are in the negatives. Well all of that spending plus the federal reserve...

How much aid did the US give Saddam? What about Oil for Food, you know, the UN program that gave Saddam the money needed to buy food from other countries? Oh wait, that money was used to stockpile weapons and kill his own people...yeah...so much for US aid to Saddam.

No the chinese do not own the US, they are just heavily invested in our country. Its a mutual relationship. Just like most of the EU is now invested in Iraq. Like I said before our country does the dirty work while these sissies just sit back and try to reap the rewards of our hard work. And to state a fact so im not accused of attacking. After Saddam was deposed in 2003 Firms from France and other EU countries went to Iraq to invest in many areas of the new Iraqi economy, especially the Iraqi oil fields that were nationalized by Saddam. These countries sought to reclaim the fields that they had before Saddam nationalized the industry.

Ok no more attacking. I could say something really really obnoxious right now but ill hold back just for the sake of staying on topic...sorry if anyone's feelings were hurt. I wouldn't want to do that...

If you would read my posts, I am stating facts to back up my opinions.

Yeah they did...

Well I understand it's not just about oil, oil is just at the root of everything. Look at Iran, they have had very long and drawn out wars with Iraq. Now if they attack Iraq, we have a reason to depose that nut job ahmadinejad. What the so-called intelligent symbelmyne does not understand is that we americans do not care about her and her very very very corrupt government down there. Our government is kind of like me and my brothers up here in new york, we basically say eff you and there is nobody that will do anything about it. Yes civilians die, it's something that happens in war. However, these people are what allow this to go on. Yes, it is only a minority of zealots over there but that minority has put the fear of god into those people and they continue to do nothing about it. I know she likes to quote george orwell, but I have a quote.

"The only thing necessary for evil to prevail, is for good men to do nothing. -Edmund Burke

For as long as these people don't stand up for themselves and their human rights, they will be murdered, and not by US forces but by the people killing themselves to get to their virgins. These so called martyrs are nothing but cowards, brainwashed by even bigger cowards to do the dirty work for these extremist pigs. I live in the greatest country in the world and I am proud of that fact. Proud that I have people willing to risk their life so I can freely express my views and opinions.

Yes, the social aspect of Iraq under Saddam was very westernized. However, you have to realize that it was either deal with it or the members of your mosque are taken away at night and murdered. What many people fail to realize is that our country is still looked at as the police of the world. When have you ever seen the UN take action? The so-called peace-keepers are a joke. The EU and most of the world look to NATO to actually take care of business. Just look at Bosnia in the 90's, The rest of Europe sat back and let the war get out of control. Then called on US to quell the violence. Believe it or not, our forces have to do the dirty work of the rest of the world because no one will stand up for what is right. And to reply to symbelmyne's post about our interests in the middle east, OIL. Yes, oil, the product that runs the global economy. Without oil our world stops running, and to let the fate of the global economy be decided by a bunch of fanatics with no respect for the lives of themselves or others is just absolutely insane. To finish my reply, if you want to call GWB a war criminal then you must also try our congress and the american people. We put everyone in office, therefore it is our fault that this has happened. Many continue to fail to realize that our senators and congressmen/women do not do their job. They gain office with the hopes of actually accomplishing something and are blinded by greed. They pass legislation that will benefit themselves and nothing more. I am going to end my post before it gets way too long.