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If they were there we were interested, too. During the 50s they had many advisers in Egypt and in Syria, they build the famous Aswan Dam in Egypt.
Then we decided that oil is vital for our interest. It is not as if we did not have our own oil, but once the oil and the automobile companies decided that we each need a personal car - and exerted influence to destroy any infrastructure of public transportation - our dependency on the nations of the Persian Gulf was sealed.
A slight problem though: except for Israel and for Lebanon - most of the time - the nations of the Middle East are not democratic. They are either monarchies or ruled by "strong men" like Hussein, Nasser, Assad and with history of military coups.
So once you decide that you need to protect your vital interests..
As for Israel - it is a great testing ground for our military equipment. You may not like the military complex but Israel and other nations that get foreign aid have to turn back and spend most of it on American-made products and in many cases these are military equipment.
During the Vietnam war - Israel was a place to check Soviet MIG aircraft and tanks, etc.
During last year Lebanon war - we had an opportunity to see how our missiles perform against Iranian made ones.
And then, yes, many of us do feel a strong tie with Israel, the same way that we have traditionally felt with the countries of Western Europe.
Our presence there is a convenient excuse for radical Islam. Or their presence here. Before there was Al Qaeda there were - still is - the Muslim Brotherhood. Their founder, an Egyptian, visited this country in the 50s and got disgusted with the way women behaved, dressed, etc. So he went back to Egypt to start his own brand of Islam that dreams of the glory of Islam in the 10th Century and which demands to dismantle modern Western Civilization.
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