Yet it left an outdated ineffective system intact, like the Fallujahn mini-Islamic state, with a population without hope of competing with the West. And communism was what followed.
We could afford to leave everyone of those nations you listed in the dirt because the world was a lot smaller place then. Notice that each of the islands and nations that TomasUSMC listed as actually being defeated are not on the list of world hell-holes and communist states like the ones you listed.
I think that balkanization of Iraq would not be a potential disaster only if we defeated each unfriendly part. Otherwise, we’re still left with untouchable places for terrorist to train, operate and float between as we play monkey in the middle.
Small point: Of those countries that I listed China, at least, can't be considered a H*ll hole any longer. It may not be paradise by our standards, and we may not agree with it's present form of government, but they have progressed since 1900 in measureable ways. The progress is uneven, but it has been a Chinese effort.