The United States invaded Iraq on the assumption that it could quickly defeat and dismantle the Iraqi government and armed forces and replace them with a cohesive and effective pro-American government and armed forces, thereby restoring the balance of power.
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/20100419_baghdad_politics_and_usiranian_balance?utm_source=GWeekly&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=100420&utm_content=readmore&elq=482d22c5cb5a46ea9e49aa20d10199be
The first assumption was correct--the Iraqi military never stood a chance in a direct confrontation with us. The Arab world was shocked at how quickly we destroyed the second best Muslim military force in the world.
It was the second assumption that was false. This is where the wheels came off the bus.
There is no element (Sunni, Shia, even Kurd) in the Muslim world that is or could be a long term ally of America. This has always been true and will continue to be true until the coming confrontation between Islam and the West is settled. Iraq turned into a quagmire because we identified the enemy in the war on terror incorrectly.
To the exact extent any Muslim country honors its commitment to Islamic law, it cannot be a long term ally of any infidel country. We Westerners will continue to flounder in this war until we accept the truth of that statement and act on it.
The Saudis proved that point in the first Iraq war. They used us to repel Saddam, but immediately turned against us in the second Iraq war. Long term, their interests and ours will never coincide because their world view and ours are competitors.
The exact historical parallel is that we fought with the Soviets to repel Hitler, but we were never long term allies of the Soviets, and we could never be--because of our competing ideologies.
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