Re: If
AC, it's a shame you are an AC, cos you make a quite valid point. A lot of the middle east unpleasantness is thanks to Sir Mark Sykes and M. Picot. They assumed (correctly as it turned out) that the faltering ottoman empire would not last, and drew some fairly random lines on a map deciding on 'spheres of influence', leading to some fairly daffy succession states after the empire fell, together with lots of broken promises. Which never goes down well anywhere, but at the risk of generalization, particularly so with people in that part of the world. Since then pretty much, endless hassle.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
