In the 1990s, like today, the Middle East was perhaps the most strategically important region, chiefly because it houses the world's largest oil reserves—oil being, of course, the lifeblood of the world economy. Virtually every US intervention in the region is related either directly or indirectly to the question of control over the flow of oil. In this context, Islamist groups and nations were cast as allies or enemies based on their degree of acquiescence to US aims.

Deepa Kumar, Islamophobia and the Politi…, loc. 268