[conservativecorner]

First off, we haven't been fighting a war. Watch "The World At War" that chronicles a real war. We have a democracy experiment with folks who hate us just a bit more than each other. Kick ass with complete surrender of your adversary, and then you set the rules of governing and provide security and monetary help. We have the model. It was WW II and Germany and Japan are our case studies. Nation building comes after nation destroying. Someone forgot to tell the President.

[Captain Kirk]

Your model doesn't work. The Japanese were allowed to vote for parliament and a prime minister in 1946 (less than a year after surrender!) under their pre-war Constitution. Also, Truman let them keep the emperor. Their nation was "destroyed." We turned it over very quickly to Japanese voters. In Iraq, we waited far longer.....with poor results.