I did a couple of courses on the middle east too. If you ask me, Britain and France, the former colonial owners, couldn't wash their hands of responsibility either. The way they drew the borders with no regard for ethnic and geographic realities on the ground is a root cause of many territorial conflicts in the middle east today, the whole vision of ISIS is also built on wiping away the colonial legacy. So it's not only the US that is guilty.
RE: "Your network, is your net worth" : I'm Krisite