@Fatal Freedoms,
Fatal_Freedoms;56551 wrote:Google "Cold war policies".
Sorry, you made the accusation. Google did not.
Former leaders of the U.S. did things for and to Arab nations based on hopes and desires. I would guess that not one U.S. leader had in mind harming the people of any Arab state. Mistakes were made. As they were and are by any nation reaching out to effect the future of relations with any other peoples.
Policies of any government, super power or not, do not dictate to leaders of other nations to deny a reasonable, safe lifestyle for their people.
The reality is that leaders of Arab nations have hogged all of the revenues from oil production and have allowed their own constituents to wallow in squalor. Then when confronted by the people, the easy route is to blame the great Satan. Arab leadership or the absence of has always been the real problem.