The Secret History of the American Empire-- John Perkins

subtitled : The inside story of the corruption, cronyism, and corporate manipulation behind the American Empire

Our second invasion of Iraq sent the strongest possible signal to Islamic militants. They knew that 9/11 was simply a justification, that the highjackers were not connected to Saddam or Iraq. They also understood the Christian Right strongly influenced U.S. politics, had aligned itself with the Israel lobby, and was determined to subjugate the Middle East and control world oil supplies and transportation routes