Ever try to intimidate someone who has nothing to lose?

Turkey did it successfully when they controlled the Ottoman Empire. The vastness of the tribes meant that the rule of law was a bit difficult to enforce. Turkey's enforcers would visit the tribe elders to learn of any problems. The problem would be killed along with his entire family. Fwiw, the system functioned.

These people had no electricity, no running water, no education and no hope of a better future well before we got there.

Iraq sits on the second largest oil reserves in the world, it should be a weathy county. It should have been like that for a long time now. The Baathists overthrow of the former government, Saddam's rise to power, fighting a brutal war with Iran, the invasion of Kuwait, the resulting embargos and the little bit of money coming in going to build palaces is not the fault of the U.S.A.

The ones with nothing lose are the brutalizing elements of the old regime, who will lose everything if Iraq turns into peaceful democratized country. The same with the foreign fighters who give not a whit for Iraq. They fight us at the behest of their masters elsewhere that would see us leave behind a shattered Iraq. Read up on your modern Lebanese history, as that is their goal here too.