My initial claim was that Islam's influence on culture was at the root of the Muslim's world's problem. That does NOT preclude any other factors. After your first response, I was pushing back on your narrative that ALL conflicts in the area are simply caused by the West, which isn't true. I wasn't trying to say the West never screws up and contributes to Middle Eastern conflict. I was saying you cannot use that excuse for all or even most of the Muslim world's current state. I thought I stated that pretty clearly in the beginning. There have to be other factors than just the West.
I never excused Western oppression or Western puppet dictators. Saying that sometimes a dictator is a necessary evil isn't the same as excusing his behavior. As I said before, the most fundamental contributing factor necessitating an autocratic rule is Middle Eastern culture that's geared towards this type of leadership. Blunders by the West just compound the problem, they're not the root. That's not excusing, that's prioritizing contributing factors. I think it's also safe to assume that we have different views on what constitutes "western oppression" and to what extent it impacts Middle Eastern states. I get the feeling you think the West merely existing is "oppressive" to Muslims.
Iraq is definitely a good example of my point. It's a failed state of sectarian violence along religious and tribal lines. Not a culture particularly compatible with Western democracy at the moment, which was idiotic by the Bush administration to not understand. The fundamental problem is the culture, significantly influenced by religion that promotes tribalism, and the problem was compounded by the West's actions. The West is not excused for their mistakes, but they weren't the root of the problem.
Let's look at Iraq prior to the invasion. In 1958 the Western backed Monarchy was overthrown and a republic was formed. Iraqis were self-governing; they were on their own. Iraq's economy grew rapidly and the standard of living increased once the Ba'thists got into power thanks to oil wealth redistribution. However, Saddam's rule ran into complications when their cultural issues of sectarianism got in the way. He dealt brutally with the Kurds, unleashing chemical weapons upon them. He invaded Iran over a land dispute that dates all the way back to the 16th century, LONG before European colonial powers involved themselves in Iraq's affairs. The war was also influenced, once again, by Islam through divisions between Sunnis and Shiites. The Iran-Iraq War lasts 8 years which was financially devastating. Saddam then invades Kuwait and is defeated by US forces which was also costly.
So, from 1958 to 2003, Iraq was on their own for 45 years to make their own choices without Western control. Instead of focusing on transforming themselves into a first world country like South Korea, they engaged in devastating wars and sectarian violence that squandered their country's potential. These were decisions made by Iraqis, not the West. Nothing the West did necessitated invading Iran or Kuwait. Iraq is responsible for starting these conflicts. No one else. You simply can't blame those on the West, but I'm sure you will anyway.