no mystery solved...

John Seery pretty much nails the thinking:

Consider, for a moment, that [Bush] might be pursuing an agenda beyond mere ego and arrogance and idiocy.

I attended a private art sale in McLean back in '02. Refreshments were served around an elegant dining room table. People milled about, chatting about the works and what-not. The conversations meandered, but the issue in most minds was the imminent invasion of Iraq by the U.S. One man suggested it had everything to do with 9/11 and was therefore just. I remember meeting resistance, and some condescension, when I suggested it had everything to do with the oil in Iraq, and, for that matter, so did 9/11.

Why do they hate us so? Because we're greedy oil addicts who value and respect their lives not at all -- that's why!

At the time, that was decidedly not a popular view; deemed cynical on an intellectual level, unpatriotic on the visceral. But what the hell, I never liked being agreeable for the sake of harmony. And I never had any respect for lemmings, particularly when they came in human form.

But the cat's out of the bag now: We're there because it's the oil, stupid! Always were.

But will we always be?