Ben T wrote:

> Whether you agree with these or not, a country who sells their wares in another
> country is less likely to bite the hand that
> feeds it. Only time will tell.

This principle is one which I beleive will eventually elimnate most wars ...
maybe not all ....and probably not civil war..... but most. The intertwining of
nations through international trade begins to make it to expensive for armed
conflicts, except perhaps when it is driven by fanaticism in the likes of Bin
Laudin and others like him.

Example would be Saudi Arabia and the US. They provide us with oil ....which we
of course pay for, but what would happen if we didn't buy their oil. Our way of
life would diminish and so would theirs. Americans love their cars and that
personal transportation, And the Saudis' love their wealth and what it can do.
Right now America is suffering through a bit of needed sobriety I think, to
comtemplate our relation to the world "Out There", and in the process we have
slowed a bit. Demand for oil has dropped, and suddenly the price of oil has
dropped. Interesting is it not. So even though Saudi Arabia is Islamic, and the
US is predominately Christian, there is mutual ground for co-operation.

But as you say....time will tell.

John Rodgers
88 GL driver