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Germany and Japan to name a couple, are examples.

Both were well-established nations. Japan from ancient times. Germany, like Italy, was a series of small territories ruled under petty nobles and only unified in the past few hundred years.

So those really were both established nations with a cohesive culture and national identity prior to our garrisoning of them.

Iraq? Just some lines drawn on a map to create military administrative districts by generals of the British empire. When Saddam and his predecessors took it over, it still was only something to hold by force because it had no cohesive national identity and history other than as a colonial entity composed of two violently opposed rival Arab theologies and a Kurdish minority with legitimate aspiration to independence.

Still, with enough oil wealth you might make it into something like a country. I won't say it's impossible. But it would happen more quickly if we would withdraw, at least to our desert bases to guard it from its greedy neighbors until they can re-establish a national defense. Better yet, bring the troops home altogether and simply guarantee its borders against Iran, Syria and especially Turkey who has its eye on the oil-rich Kurdish north.

“Iraq? Just some lines drawn on a map to create military administrative districts by generals of the British empire.”

Not so .

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1906252/posts

“One of the hidden treasures of modern Iraqi political history is the development of a powerful nationalist movement during the early twentieth century, when Iraq was still part of the Ottoman Empire. Characterized by strong democratic impulses and an emphasis on cultural tolerance, the nationalist movement was given impetus by the Young Turk Revolt of 1908, which emphasized republicanism and democratic reform. The nationalist movement attracted the loyalties of a large segment of the populace and included Iraqis of all ethnic backgrounds. It made significant contributions to Iraq’s social and political development until it was repressed by the first Ba’athist regime of ‘Ali Salih al-Sa’di and its violent National Guard militia, which seized power in February 1963.

“The Iraqi nationalist movement had four characteristics. First, the movement was characterized by interethnic cooperation. Iraqi nationalists explicitly rejected sectarianism and instead argued for a unified Iraq in which ethnic background was not a political issue. Second, the movement emphasized associational behavior. This was important because a strong democracy requires that the citizenry be organized. Third, the movement demonstrated a strong desire by Iraqis to communicate beyond their own ethnic groups or geographical regions. This was reflected in the vibrant press that characterized Iraqi society after the so-called Young Turk Revolt of 1908, and also in the expansion of literary and artistic expression after World War I. Finally, the movement was characterized by significant artistic innovation that expanded the boundaries of political and cultural discourse in Iraq and challenged many aspects of tradition. Although a number of army officers and political organizations, such as the al-Muthanna Club, did not ascribe to the nationalist movement’s democratic politics, they were a distinct minority among Iraqi nationalists.”

Both were well-established nations. Japan from ancient times. Germany, like Italy, was a series of small territories ruled under petty nobles and only unified in the past few hundred years.

So those really were both established nations with a cohesive culture and national identity prior to our garrisoning of them.

>>>>Did you miss the part about their cities being razed to the ground, their governments being toppled, their citizens literally starving circa 1945?

(Is it something in the water supply? A virus? WHAT could it be?)