They were pretty well torn up after the war. Who helped them rebuild?
"This is an area that doesn't fit the rules of Western thinking."
So we should just let them suffer under no human rights and barbarous leaders? Sorry, I don't see that as a good reason. Especially when the region breeds terrorist that want to kill us.
We tried ignoring the region for many years, and it got us 9/11. Ignoring the region does not work anymore. It is time for action, and we have a president will to take the necessary action, regardless of what that action will do to his image.
Maybe we should have stayed out of Europe when the Nazis were marching all over it.