I don't want to be lead by the meme of the month, is what it comes down to really.
Neither do I. I'm firmly belive that any system of government is just as good as the rest, in terms of potential to do good. With an incorruptible leader, a dictatorship works out just as well as democracy.
I dislike 'people' as a whole, just as must as the next guy. Unfortunately, its difficult to remove us from this equation.
I guess there is no way to distinguish between the two other than looking at the reactions of said government when we pulled out. I remember Iraqi officials saying they wasn't ready, felt abandoned. Lots of soldiers dropped their guns and left their posts(Iraqi), which led to ISIS directly taking over a huge portion of Iraq. To me, the government of Iraq at least, felt they still needed our help and guidance.
I don't think God was on our side when we entered those wars. Afghanistan was a direct reaction to an act of war on America. Same situation there afterwards. Same reaction by their government when we pulled out the majority of our troops.
That's good enough to me. I don't have any further badgering questions.
I understand your line of thought. But, where not making acts of war in the name of Jesus and then trying to convert them to Christianity. But, that's exactly what ISIS and other extremist groups are doing and fighting for.
I feel that fighting in the name of Freedom and converting them to Democracy seems about the same as Deity/Religion. This is probably where we disagree most, but I'm not sure what to do about that.
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Its difficult for me to say whether or not the people there wanted the outcome they ended up with, and whether they feel like they are better off now, years later. And, without that information, difficult for me to suggest whether or not we should do it again.
I remember years of 'the world' chiding us for sticking our hands in places we don't belong, then years (now) of 'the world' asking us to raise arms with them again. Right now, I think the world should try and figure this one out without the US to be the scapegoat. Let the EU spend 50% of its GDP on weapons, military training, and fighting a decades long war. We literally just finished doing that, lets take a break. EU has the same economic might as we do, and probably a similar military if they added it together, if not now then if they spent the same kind of money we do.