Stating the obvious: "We" can't "fix" the Middle East.
No one, no nation, no entity can "fix" the Middle East.
It's just not 'fixable' by our standards.
For thousands of years before there was a United States, or what we perceive as a Western World, they (more-or-less) 'governed' themselves by family and tribal units.
It is ingrained and not likely to change.
Ever.
And by their standards and culture, it's worked pretty well for them.
We, the 'western powers', have attempted to create 'nations'.
Especially after WWI.
It hasn't worked, and won't.
The best we could do now is just leave.
Let them sort it out.
Their oil is not as important as it once was.
The world is slowly, but inexorably, moving towards other sources of power.
The days of King Oil are numbered.
Yes, there will be ISIS and Taliban and bad stuff.
Innocent people will suffer.
Just as they did when we were trying to "fix" things.
But we just can't fix that.
We can not.
I guess we could issue an apology for the whole thing.
"Hey, look. We're really, REALLY, sorry. We fucked up, big time. We know we pissed you off. We didn't even consider that. We just wanted the oil. What more can we say?"
