Is Syria a threat to the U.S.? If not, why is the U.S. military there? This soldier standing in front of a Syrian oil field provides one of the factors in a perfect image. There are others, but if there was no oil anywhere in the Middle East would be be currently at war with half a dozen or so countries there? So far not a single one is better off now than before the US got involved. Apparently bombing people into a stable free society doesn't work too well. The US has alternated between supporting and fighting against the myriad of factions there, providing training and weapons one year than bombing the same groups the next. It is a tangled mess and based on all of US history in the Middle East it won't be fixed by the US Military or the US politicians. Going back as far as you like; Syria to Afghanistan to Iraq to Iran to the intervention mess that came out of WW2 and WW1... From the US arming, training, and financially supporting Saddam Hussein when he started a war with Iran, and then a decade later attacking him and removing him from power. From being buddies with Iran from 1953 to 1979 after the CIA and UK intelligence orchestrated removal and replacement of their elected President (because of oil BTW), to clamoring for war with the same country today. We trained, armed, and supported Osama bin Laden when he started a group fighting Russia, then killed him. The US can't decide what to do in the Middle East because it is a tangled mess we can't fix. Evidently the government has not heeded George Washington's warning and he was right. He said we should maintain free trade and avoid entangling alliances with all other countries. To bad America didn't listen to President Washington. [Keith]