Regarding how we'll never know what that part of the world would be like without Western interference, so what?

So nothing, if we don't engage in the kind of speculation that you were engaging in in your 24 Jul 05 - 05:34 PM post. Such speculation serves no useful purpose, and only tends to promote the stereotyps that are an all to common part of our daily discourse these days, and that do, ultimately, get used to justify treating Muslims and people from the Middle East as less than human, or as lesser humans. We are not in a position to judge them because of where they are now, since we contributed greatly to that particular state of affairs.