Charles@95:

I more or less agree except for point 7):

“7.)The sunni salafists in Saudi Arabia and the shia Khohomeniasts in Iran seized control of their countries. They could claim that (allah gets credit for their victories–because the force of arms didn’t do it.) Rather than, say, the demoralization of the west.”

I don’t think it was demoralization. I think someone “did the math” concerning the cost of conquest and occupation versus simply allowing the Saudis and Iranians to nationalize American and European petroleum assets such that the oil could continue to flow uninterrupted. War and military occupation are expensive. Also it’s very easy to sabotage oil wells and pipelines. If we really wanted to do “Blood for Oil” then we would have been obligated to put a significant fraction of the native population to the sword. Contrary to what moonbats are programmed to bark, Americans are not Nazis. Slaughtering Arabs and Persians for their petroleum was never an option.