>>There have been several threads lately about whether Iraq was worth it. IMO, Iraq should have been taken out, but not to nation build. It should have been a launching pad to destabilize Iran. Of course, Saudi Arabia should have been treated differently after 9/11, too, and Syria should have gone with Iran. The proper sequence of events is:
1. Replace tyrant with pro-western Authoritarian;
2. Spend 30 years educating and building a normal society;
3. Maybe, just maybe, replace authoritarian with democratic society.
See, e.g., Philippines, Taiwan, S. Korea, Honduras, Colombia, Chile.
Had this formula been followed, and the US been properly vicious in fighting an enemy that seeks our destruction, things would be quite different. We had numbskulls doing our strategic thinking.<<<
That worked in SE Asia won’t work in Middle East and Africa.
You are probably right. Islam warps a person’s mind. However, look at Turkey before the Muslim brotherhood, and Iran during the Shah. You probably have to be more pro-active to get Islam out of a society, and keep it out, and it probably takes longer, but it will have to be done at some point or else we will all end up Muslim or they will all end up dead. There is no in between.