Well, I hear what you are saying LH, but I have to disagree.

I don't think that the Bush administration's plan for Afghanistan and Iraq was nearly that pragmatic. Read Rise of the Vulcans. What is evident is that Bush, Cheney, Rice, Wolfowitz, and even Powell were convinced from before 911 that a democratic republic needed to be established in the Middle East, and that Iraq was the likely objective.
But they were actually idealistic about this concept, and not pragmatic or logical in the least. Yes, there was some notion of offsetting Iran's growing influence. Yes, there was some concept that a large democratic muslim country(Iraq) would stabilize the oil fields. But the basic philosophy was one that came from Jean Kirkpatrick: Democracy as an all-powerful force for good, working its magic through the will of the people and the operation of the free market. Iraq was the main target for this half-baked plan, and Afghanistan was an afterthought based on opportunity and involvement as an Al Qaeda traing ground and headquarters.
You don't need to convince me that the US went into both countries in near ignorance of their cultural and religious dynamic. Neither do you need to tell me that false information lay at the heart of the justification for the invasion of Iraq. Bush and his cohorts used inductive reasoning. The solution to the problem of Iraq was arrived at long before the problem was defined. Evidence was gathered to prop up a preconceived conclusion.
This is not to say, however, that those who inherited the great mess that was the American occupation of Iraq did not eventually achieve stunning results. General Petraeus eventually evolved and implemented a strategy that worked. MacChrystal is on the same track in Afghanistan. Will the result be ongoing American control? I for one think not. Should we succeed fully in realizing the Vulcans' aim of establishing a true democratically elected government in Iraq and Iran, I believe that those governments will reflect the will of their people for sharia-based rule, a concept that is essentially incompatible with at least the Vulcan concept of democracy. For both Iraq and Afghanistan, that reult would mean governments much more closely tied to Iran than to the US.