Germany and Japan are now peaceful countries. What happened at Dresden and Hiroshima/Nagasaki just might have a lot to do with this long period of non-aggression as we ended the war with an exclamation point. We can argue if we missed out on a big opportunity post WW2 regarding Russia/China. 911 was 20 years ago-too late for corrections. It’s called striking while the iron is hot as well as being ‘on a roll’.
If Saddam took over Saudi oil fields fracking would have been developed sooner as long as the left didn’t have us investing the trillions in solar & wind.
And before Saddam invaded Kuwait, the Kuwaitis were “drinking his milkshake.”
There are no saints in that region.
Iraq could have also been a peaceful, democratic country, if it was full of Germans or Japanese.