There again, we defeated the IRAQI army in very fast fashion.
That Army had a good officer corps, but little incentive to do battle for the Dictator in overall charge.
IT was an Army fully capable of protecting the civilians...but we disbanded it straight away. We used the shotgun approach, instead of selectively shooting or hanging the bad guys in the officer corps.
Then we undertook to replace that Army with ours. We "protected" a culture that we did not understand, a culture thousands of years more ancient than ours. One wirh a religion that is an integral part of their daily lives, that we do not understand.
Our mission should have never been to occupy IRAQ. After we found no WMD, and found and hanged or shot the Dictator and his top lieutenants, we should have turned the country back to the native Army..what was left of it.
Maybe seated the best and most educated civiians into a governmant. but actually the Iraqi army could have handled that chore.
We should have gotten out of there in six months, tops.