It didn't have to happen that way, Dave. Had the US really had as its goal the liberation of the Iraqi people and the nurturing of democracy in the Middle East, it was very much within the power of the US government and military to prosecute the war in a way that wouldn't produce the results we see now. The fact that this was not done could be due to incompetence and stupidity on the part of the US government, or it could be because the US government wants it this way. I tend to suspect the latter.