It is becoming increasingly difficult to avoid the suspicion that the Ninth Crusade (the so-called War On Terrorism) is really about tapping those rich Caspian Sea oil reserves. The oil cartels tried repeatedly to make an arrangement with the Taliban government to run a pipeline through Afghanistan from former Soviet territory where the oil fields are located, to avoid the necessity of having to run the pipeline through Iran, but the Taliban were more concerned with Islam than they were with making money. (Imagine that! A group of people who actually worship something other than the Almighty Dollar!) I have a suspicion that if and when the true facts behind the Crusade finally become known (probably a hundred years from now) it may turn out to be a collossal hoax. I have yet to see anything resembling definitive proof that Osama Bin Laden was behind the 9/11 attacks...smart money is betting on the same Egyptian Islamic group that bombed the World Trade Center some years ago, but on top of that those persistent rumors of Israeli involvement, or at least Israeli foreknowledge, simply won't go away.