You talk yourself in knots Frederick. Are you just reading out Chalmers Johnson talking points? Did you just read The Economic Hitman and think you have it all figured out? You just made my point about Assad. To those that love it, the 'civilized west' you scoff at is more than just the US State Department, JSOC, military et al. It is the moon landing, the airplane, the abolishment of slavery, the Bill of Rights and a million other things you take for granted. Your Stockholm syndrome for whatever victim we have created is also an American value. Empathy. The Islamic world has a right to defend its individual national borders from invaders just as the west does and will begin to do again in the coming years. Our civilisation is worth defending from enemies both foreign and domestic.