I would really like it if CEP had a thread explaining the basic history of the middle east snd how things have come to this with ISIS and the relations between the middle Eastern Countries.
Ottomon Empire collapsed, with a bit of genocide in the process.
House of Saud hitched its star to Wahhabism (zealous conservative reform movement that sought to return to a "purer" form of Islam) and spread its ideology across Saudi Arabia as Saud grew in power after the Ottomans were gone. House of Saud has been remarkably stable though for a family that's huge and could arguably have competing claims on the throne.
Europe split up a good chunk of the former Ottoman empire with little regard to what people were living where. This lead to problems after decolonization.
Zionists decided to return to Islam. Britain got worried, a bunch of terrorist attacks later, and we got Israel and a recent history where everyone has blood on their hands.
Lebanon looked promising but has fallen into war over the last few decades.
Kurds are always getting screwed.
Iran had a king (well, a Shah), which the West liked, but the people didn't. A different zealous conservative reform movement overthrew the Shah. Iran and the rest of the Middle East have different interpretations of Islam. This causes issues.
In the ruins of the Ottoman empire, Ataturk decided to create a modern western state. This has had mixed results. Some years are good. Currently, Turkey is not in a good place.
Egypt has had a mixed history as well, and I'm having trouble even oversimplifying it like I've done above.
Iraq has been divided between the Kurds (in the north), the Shiites (in the south - these share a religion interpretation with Iran), and the Sunnis (which share their religion interpretation with the rest of the Middle East). The infamous dictator was Sunni, and tended to treat Kurds and Shiites badly (as in "lets gas 'em" badly). Also, he started a very long, very bloody war with Iran. Various groups seem pissed at each other. US slapped Saddam down once under Bush, then when Shrub was elected, he decided to fuck realpolitik and start a war that has destabilized the region. Daesh (aka ISIL, aka ISIS, aka fucking religious zealots that make the other religious zealots look damn near good) have developed in the aftermath. Also some Shiite groups have grown in power after the removal of Saddam, but I'm trying to simplify this explanation and they aren't really causing major problems ("major" being relative).
Add in some wars, and the habit of various leaders playing one ethnic group against another, and it's been a mess. There's oil money as well which has been used to prop up bad economies (check the unemployment rates of young men in various countries sometime).
All in all, a mess.
One that the US should ask very carefully about what it hopes to accomplish before touching the poo.
