sooner or later in an anticolonial war, the colonial power goes home.
The locals dont have to, they are home.

when only 2% of the locals see the US as liberators, and 47% view
attacks on US forces in Iraq as legitimate, one doesnt have to think who the victors are.

And in a free & democratic society they can elect whatever govt they want.

over the past 20 years many countries over the world have become democratic, with no help from the US, in fact, in spite of the US (and its recent Wilsonian ideal of exporting democracy).