What amuses me about this whole argument is we act like the whole rest of the world is one big peaceful zone, and it's only those trouble making Arab countries who are the barbarians who still beat up on each other. The fact is, there's conflict in South America (look at Ecuador-Colombia), peace in Europe hasn't existed for long enough to be really considered permanent, the last armed conflict we had before Bush was in the Balkans (hell, the South Ossetia War anyone? though technically not Europe, not what we consider Asia or the Middle East) and then there's all the stuff that happens out in Asia: India and Pakistan are still beating up on each other, technically the only thing that exists between the UN and North Korea is a cease-fire. And Africa. Africa's like the conflicts of the Middle East, Ecuador-Columbia, Indian Subcontinent combined, put on steroids, TIMES TWO. But no one gives a fuck about Africa. Because we can't deal with a whole continent. No no no. We have to deal with a bunch of fucking desert with one vital resource (that's quickly becoming obsolete). Africa's got rubber, diamonds, cash crops, up the wazoo, but we're more worried about oil. I suppose another problem with Africa is it's full of black people.
Hell, tell me what countries in the Middle East are actually currently at war with each other. Which two? Who're the combatants? How're the campaigns going? The fact is, there aren't any. They're at peace with each other. Yes, they fund non-national organizations that conduct guerrilla campaigns, but so do we (Afghanistan, circa 1980).
Is the Middle East a good situation? Fuck no. But it's as stable as it can be, just like the Balkans are as stable as they can be (and they have a history of being a powder keg next to an open fireplace).
The trouble, in my opinion, comes about when a bunch of idiots go "Well, they're living in the stone age with their stone age beliefs, and those beliefs are totally irreconcilable with modernity." Islam's not a problem. Turkey's got Islam, and it's moderate (hell, it wants to be part of the EU. EVERY SINGLE political party in Turkey wants to be part of the EU). Morocco, Algeria, these are moderate Islamic countries. Look at Muslims in the United States. They have no problem with the way life in the US is. Hell, the Southern Baptists and the Faux News commentators are more worried about America's corrupt culture than Muslims in the US. But when you paint belief as the issue, YOU MAKE AN UNSOLVABLE PROBLEM.