One man's "useful idiot" is another man's voice of reason. It's all a matter of which set of cherished beliefs you choose to filter reality through. Every conquering empire hates people who interfere with or question its conquests and considers them traitors to the cause. Nothing new about that. Israel's conquests began in 1948 and have been expanding ever since (with a brief recoil after 1973) at the expense of all Israel's neighbours. Great Britain and France's imperial conquests in the Middle East began much earlier, but suffered great setbacks after official colonization became politically unacceptable, so now they do it through Israel, the USA, and Muslim proxy governments (compliant dictators). The USA's imperial conquests in the Middle East got going after WWII as they basically took over the old French-British position. Their interests and Russia's collided in Afghanistan, and the Russians eventually lost out in that one as the USA-backed Mujahedeen took over. The Mujahedeen fractured into several fighting factions and the Taliban came out on top. The USA eventually had a falling out with their former buddies, the Taliban, (just like they did with their former buddy, Saddam Hussein) and the imperial crusade entered a new and far bloodier phase that is continuing to play itself out in Afghanistan, Iraq, northern Pakistan, Yemen, etc...

It is nothing more than great imperial manuoveres by those with the most guns and money over the bodies of the local people, and those with the most guns and money at present are the USA, Israel, the UK, France, and Russia. They are the imperial powers. The Middle East is their battleground. The ordinary people there are the ones who suffer the consequences. And the prize is: OIL (and regional control)

The Chinese, of course, are also quite concerned. They have need to be, because they too need the oil. They too must therefore play the imperial game, but in a more subtle fashion, most likely.