> We are seen in the Middle East as bullies that only care about oil. Which doesn't make any sense. If we only cared about oil, we'd occupy a couple of oil fi

> We are seen in the Middle East as bullies that only care about oil. Which doesn't make any sense. If we only cared about oil, we'd occupy a couple of oil fields, protect the pipelines and shipping, and ignore everything else. And, if we did that, the folks who actually get a large fraction of their oil from the middle east would do likewise. (Yes, I know that oil is fungible, but that's only because US policy makes it so. The US could easily stop oil from leaving the Americas, which is where the US gets the vast majority of its oil - thanks Canada and Mexico - and let the rest of the world fend for itself.) The French have historically run a fairly brutal occupation.