Dave, with all do respect you are completely off-base. If you think the US government is innocent of all wrongdoing in the world, you're insane. Sure it may have been in the commercial interests of some companies within the US, and I'm all for cheap oil and services, but we've occupied, intimidated, murdered, lied, assassinated, and sponsored death squads and other thugs for decades all across the world. We've backed dictators who did what we said, we've killed democratically elected leaders who were loved by their people. We've turned Saudi Arabia into a US military zone to secure the oil, and myriad other ventures from the 1950s onward.

You need to understand WHY they hate us, not just that they do. There is no way to win a strategic victory over people who are fighting for a devout belief in their religion and their culture; there will always be more Sunni and Shia alike all across the world, including hundreds of non-Arabic converts, willing to flock to this banner of 'standing up to the man' and 'little guy versus big guy' heroics that the fight is portrayed as.

Its not anti-American to realize that we have been screwed up for decades; its time we realized we need to make changes in our republic and how it operates overseas. Some people think America has some sort of destiny to rule the world, and its this short-sighted hubris that can cause the downfall of our great civilization.