It isn't like this radical wave wasn't there until we sent a single soldier off. It HAS been there forever in Israel, which we knew very well, which is why my outrage is directed at anyone who's shocked. It's just that it goes in line with what's happening all across the region. Iraq elected a religious coalition, Iran's got a dude who says the Holocaust was a hoax (and oh yeah, they 180'd on the nuclear program soon afterward), the Saudis said today that we should expect higher gas prices, and Syria is also a potential trouble-maker. The place has always had a huge potential for this stuff, but the LAST thing we needed was something that could galvanize a lot of that sentiment and breed conflict, but we went and invaded Iraq anyway. It's not exactly if A, then B, but our presence there provides a ready amplifier for radical ideals spreading.