“They should left a harsh dictator in place.”
That seems to be what is required in the Muslim world. I think Bush the Elder understood that, and it’s why the Kuwait War stopped at the Iraq border.
But Dubya was heavily influenced by the band of neocon goofballs he surrounded himself with, and Dubya’s philosophy was closer to Woodrow Wilson on steroids than anything resembling foreign policy realism.
Perhaps but I don't think Bush I had the stomach to go into Iraq itself and the bloodbath. Bush II proved that could be done and the conquer of Iraq did not take that long. Had they placed a strong dictator in place in Iraq I think it would have been successful. To your point Bush II had ridiculous idealistic ideas about democracy in Iraq.