Funny you should mention that. Isn't that what Granpappy Prescott Bush did right up until the US entered WWII?

That said, they still provide more than 90 percent of all money and volunteers for al-Qaeda worldwide. The Iraq branch is a home grown affiliation group, so they are an exception (except for the money and weaponry).

Two of our supposed allies - Pakistan and Saudi Arabia - are directly responsible for creating, providing religious backing and perverted teachings for, and assisting directly and indirectly al-Qaeda by actions.

Actions. The things that matter.

They are NOT our friends.

In deposing Saddam, Bush has to make nice and support majority Shiites in Iraq after reign of minority Sunni government under Sadaam.

The problem is that Iran, our enemy, is also majority Shiite.

The Iraqi Sunnis form a large part of the post-war insurgency. All of the US's Middle Eastern allies (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, and eastward - Pakistan, Afghanistan, India) are all majority Sunni Muslim.

If Saddam had been a Shia, the arms sales wouldn't seem nearly so ironic.

This U Texas Libraries map is from 1995

http://www.lib.utexas.edu/maps/world_maps/muslim_distribution.jpg