The only winner of that stupid war was Iran.
Yes, any fool could see that if you gave Iraq “democracy” the majority Shiites would naturally be oriented toward Iran —they are Shia first and foremost. Iraq was not suited to democracy — real democracy cannot be conjured out of a ballot box in an instant. If we just had to get rid of Saddam, we should have gone in and replaced him with a less nasty dictator, remind the new guy he rules at our pleasure, then left. Lots cheaper and way more effective. Also more humane.
The Chinese didn’t do too badly, either. See my #12.