The Middle East is like a large feuding family. One side wants our help and will egg us on more and more to help. Step too far into the middle of it, and they all hate us. IMHO, something different has to happen. Less dependency on the U.S. for keeping the feuds going, means they have to fight it out themselves. This means that they have more incentive to settle things out - or they'll wipe themselves out.  Either way, why do we want to be in the middle of it? 

 

Probably - Turkey has the best chance to settle things down in the region. It has to come from within the region. An outsider can take the horses to water - but they won't drink. We cannot force them to want peace. They have to want it, for it to happen. The U.S. could spend money there 'til hell freezes over, but where would that put us?

 

None of this is to say that a conflict can't break out on the sea lanes. That's a good possibility. But let's work on getting others in there to deal with this too. Turkey has the largest military in NATO, and their military outflanks Iran's. So, let Turkey get it's legs..

The U.S. doesn't need to prove anything to anybody. Let the Middle East factions turn their hate elsewhere, if they insist on keeping the hate game going.. Hate just begets hate and more hate. The big game now is spreading hate around the internet amongst a bunch of emotional individuals, that don't known anything but hate i.e. aljazeera etc.  It's a waste of time and peoples lives. It's pure ignorance, that only get's worse, generation after generation, if it keeps up. Aiming it at the U.S., at Russia, at China - everywhere but at themselves. What good does it do?

 

In the mean time - the U.S. should be doing everything possible to get off foreign oil. At the same time we should be more concerned with what happens in our own backyard.

That's all just my take on the situation..

 

Susan