In reply to:


That is why we weren't involved in the Middle East 15 years ago? I always wondered about that.



Its one of the reasons, but not the only one.

15+ years ago, Iran & Iraq were fighting each other (Saddam versus the Mullas in Iran) and the US was covertly helping Iraq and was also helping Afghanistan beat the Russians - planting the seeds for bin Laden and his ilk to harvest.

The US got involved with the Middle East again in a big way because of the Invasion of Kuwait and countries like Saudi Arabia figured that Sadam would go after them next once he'd annexed Kuwait so they asked Uncle Sam to help out (or Uncle Sam volunteered - can't recall which now).

And, the US has never left since then.