Reality alert:
-Back in the 90s we went to a middle eastern country to kick out Iraq, did so, and left. We did not remove Saddam and occupy Baghdad because as Cheney famously said back then that sheet would be cray-zay. We lost 148 Americans total.
-In 2001 we went to Afghanistan, kicked out AQ and stayed there. And we're still there. We've lost over 2,000 Americans and counting.
-In 2003 we decided that removing Saddam and occupying not just Baghdad but all of Iraq was now a good idea, according to... Dick Cheney. We ended up staying there for eight years and losing over 4,400 Americans.
Occupations and attempted nation-building in the so-called name of "liberating" foreign peoples has been a complete and utter disaster for this country.