>>>I think the Saudi royal family probably worries constantly about being overthrown by fundamentalists, even with Israel around. To me it almost seems inevitable.
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>>With cheap oil still in the ground, the US won't let an Islamic coup happen. When the cheap oil runs in in 20-30 years and the US loses interest, and I can see the radicals taking over.
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>Our record on preventing Islamic coups hasn't been too hot. We propped up the Shah of Iran for quite a while but it's been nearly 30 years since he was overthrown. Since them Islamic fundamentalism has been on the rise around the globe and I can't think of one place we have deterred it. Even in Iraq, where we are up to our eyeballs, the long-suppressed Shia are much more powerful than they were before we invaded, and oil exports are way down.
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>It's time everyone lost the illusion that the U.S. can go around fixing everything to serve our interests. We no longer have that kind of power.

It a funny thing, Mike, but I do think the U.S. has all the power necessary WHEN THE MOTIVES ARE FOR GOOD.
No one here knows the motive for going into Iraq, but just the way it was done conveyed the following:
1) President Bush and/or Vice President Cheney had some personal agenda at work;
2) Oil;
3) Oil;
4) Oil;
5) Oil.
They tried to put the lipstick on the pig, but it was all falsehood and that doesn't work.

Then there's the INCOMPETENCE of the planning, which I understand was rooted in Rumsfeld's wish to do war on the cheap. I understand that military generals, especially with a new Administration, are keen to take orders and execute as told. It has come to light that Secretary Rumsfeld nickeled-and-dimed the "plan" countless times.
When you ignore those who give you advice you don't want to hear - even 'demoting' them (continued ignoring) - you get what you "deserve". Unfortunately, Secretary Rumsfeld 'deserved' a quagmire and he got one, but at the expense of the lives and futures of brave young soldiers who, after all, only follow orders.

The latest stance by the Administration - to wait until a "sustainable cease-fire" is possible with Lebanon - shows a marked change too in how the U.S. now views things.
At one time ANYONE'S life was considered valuable and the U.S., with hundreds of Generals who could foresee exactly how things would develop in Lebanon, now appears clearly to value Israeli lives more than Lebanese lives. This is counter to how most of the rest of the free world sees the value of life and certainly does not endear the U.S. to Muslims at all.

The U.S. still has the power to bring about change in the world. It's just that their current methods have de-valued the influence that the U.S. can exercise.