Quote:
the intricacies of american politics mean little to a region gripped by fear and paralyzed by what america might do next.
That's overstating things isn't it?
America left Saudi Arabia. Are Egypt, Jordan and Iran seriously worried about a USA ground invasion? Nope.
Syria might be but not likely. Do states like Kuwait, Qatar, etc, fear a USA invasion? Nope.
If the leadership of those countries are worried about something its the threat of incitement to their own populations from American actions, causing them to drift toward a greater police state to keep things under control.
American politicians on both sides seem to feel successful democracies in Afghanistan and Iraq will eventually "grip the region in fear."
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Methinks you invalidate your own response. US invasion is far from the biggest worry for most countries, but that's a long way from saying that US actions won't instigate instability, terror, bombings, etc. in the Middle East. Sure, it won't actually be the US dropping the bombs in most cases, but you can be sure most people in the region will think US policy is playing a role by inciting terrorists and extremists.