That’s precisely what we won: we had bases. We had an ally (weak and needed propping up, much like France and Greece in 1945), and we COULD have had some of the oil, quite legitimately. Most important, we had a jumping off point right at the Iranian border. That was worth billions, and, yes, was worth the lives. Patton said he didn’t like to pay for the same real estate twice. Well, we will. Sooner or later, we’re going to have to buy that real estate again.
We may yet go back, but I don’t think it’s a priority. And before we do, we need to establish a doctrine that is very simple in it’s understanding and application:
If we invade, we keep the real estate for eventual annexation. We keep the wealth, we keep the territory. And if the people behave and adapt our standards, we keep them too.
The most successful part of our history were the years where we were growing as a country. Manifest Destiny 2.0.
We don’t need a wall on our southern border, our goal should be to establish a buffer state.