[PGR88]

Just one more proof point that the Military Industrial Complex doesn’t want to win any wars, they just want continual war.

A relative did 5 tours in Iraq and Afghanistan in the USMC. In his opinion, it would have been better and easier just to leave Saddam in charge, and use a small fraction of the money spent just to buy him and his sons off.

[Trailerpark Badass]

Yep, paying off troublesome foreign leaders is a diplomatic tactic as old as time.

[ETCM]

In his opinion, it would have been better and easier just to leave Saddam in charge

I've read that several Generals advised GW Bush to take out Saddam and a handful of his top leaders, leaving the government and what remained of the military intact. It was Bush who personally insisted on outlawing the Baathists and dissolving the military. It was de-Baathification that gave us the insurgency.