No, We'll Never Know...... What Might Have Been

This week, I've been thinking about alternate paths of reality. You know, had someone done this, instead of that, how different would things be today?

I guess it's because there's been so much in the news this weekend about the London bombings, The 9/11 WTC, and terrorism in general, and who's "fault" it is. Do you want to know something? A good portion of it didn't have to happen. That's where the alternate path comes in. As incredible as it seems, it's actually the Saudi Arabian Government, and/or The Bush Administration, that could have sent us down that "other path". See, I found out a little detail this weekend, that sent my brain off on this alternate reality thing.

Turns out, when Saddam invaded Kuwait (remember that?), Osama Bin Laden, originally wanted to battle Saddam Hussein, who he considered a "Bad Muslim", and push him out of Kuwait. The Saudi Arabian Govt turned him down, and decided to take George Bush up on his "offer" instead. That was probably the moment, when OBL began to believe that there was some sort of Saudi/USA conspiracy to "Destroy Islam". Yup, we could have stayed out of it completly, believe it or not. I know that hindsight is always 20/20, but consider this alternate "reality"..........

Alternate Reality
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The Saudi Arabian Govt says "Sure OBL, go get that bastard SH away from our Saudi/Kuwait Border, yes, go, go and kick his ass". So OBL gets his Mujadeen (sp?) buddies, and declares a "Holy War", not against the USA, but instead, against the "Islamic Infidel who has invaded his Kuwait neighbor". If OBL doesn't manage to defeat and push SH back to Iraq, he should at least hurt him enough, so that Saudi Arabia can send those F15 Tomcats they got from us, over there to wipe out the remains of "The Republican Guard". SH is defeated, Kuwait returns to their Islamic Monarchy, the US still gets the desired recovered Kuwaiti oil, and OBL gets to do "The Work Of Allah", all without any US involvement at all.

Then, later on, IF we DO decide there is a need to invade Iraq, we might have had, not only the support of OBL, and Saudi Arabia, but possibly some support, from a good portion of the Islamic Middle East. Get rid of the War Monger in their midst, and we're just finishing what the Holy Warriors started. Upon the inevitable eventual defeat and disgrace of SH, and with the support of Iraq's neighbors, the situation in Iraq stabilizes more quickly then it otherwise would have, and the country adopts a Constitution, based on some sort of Islamic/Monarcy/Democracy. The US "Holy Libration Force", leaves.
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Yes, of course, I realize that in this alternate reality, The US does not get to establish the "Republican Democracy" that GWB, and the current US Administration, appears to be attempting to establish, in several areas of the Middle East, and certainly, there is no guarantee that a stable government would have evolved in Iraq under my hypothetical scenario, but as far as I can tell, it sure hasn't seemed to stabilize yet, or evolved much, in our current reality either.

So, Despite the Controversial Topic, or the potential for pissing off the Wildly Diverging Social and/or Political opinions of my potential reader "Fan Base" (cough)......... there is a MORE IMPORTANT bigger picture point, that I'm trying to make. I know this SOL is a little long winded, but I am trying to get to the point, so please Humor me for 1 more second, and consider this.......

Regardless of your individual political and/or social point of view, of the US "War On Terrorism", It's no secret, whether it is true or not, that there is a good majority of the Islamic world today, that considers the USA to be some sort of Imperialistic Bastard, that is bent on wiping out the Islamic Faith, but IF..... IF..... Instead of what DID happen, instead, the Saudi Gov't, way back when, had accepted OBL's offer, then the current attitude of a good majority of the Islamic world, might be very different, and possibly directly opposite, from what it is today. True, we may not have been able to establish the "US Type Gov'ts" in the Middle Eastern World, that we seem so determined to do, but consider the Bigger Picture..........

If.... Saudi Arabia had done differently, or IF..... the US had refused the Saudi request, then face it, with Billions in oil revenue at stake, and with SH's troops at their border, Saudi Arabia might have been forced to accept OBL's offer. Then OBL would have his victory against an infidel, the Islamic World would have mostly taken care of their own problem, and Osama Bin Laden, and a good portion of the Islamic World, might not be in philispohical conflict with the US, and in fact, it's not impossible, that their attitude toward the USA might today even have been catagorized as "friendly".

My point..... IF..... That were the case, then, in this hypothetical alternate "reality", while granted, we wouldn't have been able to "spread" our US type democracy in the Middle East, and GWB's buddies wouldn't have gotten the opportunity to get their hands on all that Iraq oil, but there also, might have then been no reason, for a good portion of the current worldwide terrorist bombings, or the War In Iraq......... or even....... the 9/11 bombings of The World Trade Center.

Relinquising Political Power, and giving up billions in oil revenue, in exchange for thousands of lives. I don't know about you, but it sure sounds like that would have been a good trade, to me. I guess instead I'll just have to accept that we'll never know, what might have been........