@chris @freemo
Hello good sirs. You did not ask for my two cents but I feel compelled to point out that the argument you used to draw an equivence between US actions in the middle east and other atrocities is full of western conceit. It is common for americans to believe that everything of import that ever happened in the world since the declaration of independence was somehow due to their actions. It is true that naive and self-interested actions by america in that region have greatly exacerbated existing conflicts; but to think that the whole middle east would be dancing Sufis if not for big-bad america is rather preposterous.
The reason that the holocaust, pol pot and the cultural revolution are considered particularly bad is because they were pepetuated by a specific group clearly over and on top of whatever violence was already endemic to the area. WW2 itself was clearly more than a single nation or person's fault but the holocaust was completely in excess of any expected wartime killing.
Again, this does not mean that america is innocent of wrongdoing in that region, only that they are not nearly the only factor at play.