text: I would have been more inclined to suggest that the Middle East mess is the result of the outcomes from WW1, where the western powers divided the map and created new countries entrench with sectarian violence.  But even that suggestion ignores that the "mess" goes back thousands of years as the locals fought (and continue to fight) over religion.  
  
  And how should (if they would or could) the US "clean it up"?  Their mere presence is resented as "infidels".  
  
  Middle East violence is like climate change.  It has always existed; it is getting worse; it is impossible to fix; the best you can hope for is to minimize its growth and adapt as best as possible; and how to do this remains a conundrum.