Are we better off because the surge succeeded than we would have been had we left Iraq immediately after Hussein’s capture?
The Iranians would of swooped in, or maybe Iraq would of turned into some sort of Cambodian killing fields. I can only guess at very bad, murderous events.
Yes, we did the right thing.
I don’t think anyone can escape getting bills, costs, burdens. People, societies that avoid them, get nowhere. They just live for a bit, then fade with nothing accomplished but filling basic appetites like cattle in a field.