I do not think for one minute that I make any point on your behalf. Your, "But if the US installs a puppet regime.....etc,etc." is nothing short of laughable - "BUT IF...." lists are as endless as they are meaningless, as they are pointless.

To you, maybe. But these are the brave servicemen and women of my country we are talking about sending in there (at least in terms of beardedbruces initial question), and we were saying all of those same "ifs" back before the US attacked Iraq last year, and many of my own "ifs" proved to turn out exactly as I anticipated. As a responsible citizen of the US, something that you are not, it is my responsibility to look at all of the angles in situations like this one. That's what democracy is all about. But maybe you don't have much use for democracy.