If you look at our foreign policy since the end of WWII, we have tried to install friendly governments in many countries in Africa, the Middle East, and the Far East. In nearly every instance it has failed.
Saddam Hussein and ben Laden are just the latest in a long line of US installed or backed leaders who have come back to bite us. If I remember correctly, the US even backed Pol Pot at one time. The government's record in that regard is enough to steer us away from that course of action.
We do need to rip out terrorism root and branch where ever it may rear its ugly head, but we do need to let sovereign countries run their own affairs. Only when those govenments attack the US are we allowed, or even obligated to intervene. Otherwise, we need to focus on the problem, terrorism and all who harbor terrorists.
Ture, and we need to learn from these mistakes. We need local national governments that are solely concerned with basic safety: a minimalist, (do we dare say, libertarian) governments. We never tried that. Please see #40.