That's a pretty shallow reading of Western European/Middle East relationships. I don't really want to start a big argument about international political histor

That's a pretty shallow reading of Western European/Middle East relationships. I don't really want to start a big argument about international political history, because that's not what HN is for, but your reason for anger (a hundred years of meddling) isn't the real one. If you were going to make that argument, by the way, you should pick up a history book pre-1900 and see that Western Europe has been 'meddling' in the Middle East for a few thousand years.