MGOH,

"And don't forget the UK, which in many ways screwed things up in the first place, when it drew arbitrary boundaries round the country it cobbled together and called Iraq,"

The boundaries were drawn up by the French and the British as a result of the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire at the end of the First World War.

"....and the bit they chopped off and called Kuwait, to suit the interests of the oil barons at the time."

That is totally incorrect, the Sheikdom of Kuwait existed long before the end of the First World War. The present city was established back in the 1600's. The link to Baghdad was through allegiance to the Caliph of Baghdad for protection, but Kuwait has always been independent. The ruler of Kuwait signed a treaty with the British in 1899, to guarantee the sovereignty of Kuwait. This was done while the Ottoman Empire was still in existence - it had nothing to do with oil, at the time it had everything to do with a proposed railway link between the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf.