I agree that the ME is and has been a huge mess for many years with many Iraqis dying at a very decent clip, as you put it. Guess I just don't see that the current situation, aside from the strategic benefits, have really improved much. Certainly democracy is a nice idea and if everyone could live happy lives under a democratic govt, the world would be a better place. You couldn't have picked a more difficult place to try and 'plant' the idea than the middle east. If this had been put forward as the motivation for moving armed forces into Iraq I believe most would not have agreed. However waving the WMD flag certainly overcomes that obstacle.
There's been a fairly well documented history of governments selecting advice that suit their policy over a long period of time in both Australia and America. Many qualified people were presenting evidence of a lack of WMD's (or perhaps a lack of evidence of WMD's), however this was ignored or 'missed' and in we went.
Given we are now in there and the goal posts have shifted to installing a democracy for the good of the people I agree that it has to be done right. It dosn't help the cause when it's perceived that huge profits are being made by companies (which I know is normal) and understandably gives reason to question the initial motives of going in.
In any case, time will certainly tell. I hope it works out but can't help but thinking that there are more Australian and American flags being looked at as targets due to our actions. If one invasion results in a democracy (of some type and for some duration) and causes new generations of extremists and terrorists then I think we've dropped the ball. Should it all work out well (as I hope it will) then myself and many others will have plenty of humble pie to chew our way through
