I'm with you so far, but let's not forget that Pakistan is/was the primary sponsor of the Talibans, and that the Saudis, Bahrain, Iran... all play the game of t

I'm with you so far, but let's not forget that Pakistan is/was the primary sponsor of the Talibans, and that the Saudis, Bahrain, Iran... all play the game of thrones. It's not an all-western show. I'm also not really sure that I'd paint 1985-era Saudi Arabia, Egypt or Death-To-America Iran as markedly better than they are now. The region has historically been ruled by despots. Western intervention has occasionally (by design or accident) made things worse, but the West has the same responsibility in the rise to power of noted humanitarian Khomeiny as France's position during the negotiation of the Treaty of Versailles.