If it wasn't for oil nobody but people in the middle east would care about the middle east, except for maybe a few peace-nix hippie do-gooders.
I just as soon get off oil as soon as possible and leave the middle east to the arabs and their coconut shell battery chargers, bamboo telescopes, bamboo xylophones, bamboo sewing machines, "electric" razor made from a clam shell, vibrating from a honey-bee inside, "automatic" windows and doors powered by monkeys on the outside, and cars made out of stone, wood, and animal skins powered by the passengers' feet.