In all fairness, you can't compare Iraq to WWII. They had standing armies that could be defeated. Iraq has jihadists that enter the country from other countries. And they get support from countries that we AREN'T fighting. We defeated Iraqs army easily. It's the foreign terrorists, Al Qaeda, Iran etc that are keeping us fighting. We aren't fighting a nations standing army.
This only bolsters my point. You do not let your military get sucked into trying to nation build in a country like Iraq while countries like Iran build nuclear weapons. You use a punitive approach only. You deal with these types of people by giving them clear demands and then backing those demands up with air strikes against their infrastructure. You tell them that while those strikes will be targeted, the fear of collateral damage will in no way prevent us from achieving our military goals to take out targets.
We could have acheived in Iraq in a matter of a couple of years or less what has taken us almost 6 years. No country has ever benefited from a prolonged war. They figured that out a long time ago but we keep trying to do what has never been done and fight a long, costly war that is to help another country, not ours. I’m not some anti-war dove. I’m against the way we have approached this war on terror because I do not have faith in the Muslim people. I wish I could. I just don’t. The longer this war drags out, the more I believe those claiming it’s about doing business with the very people killing our troops. I’ve never wanted to believe that. I can’t hardly believe that. But my God, it’s becoming easier to believe.