Democracy cannot be imposed upon people, and even if it could - it's none of our business to be doing that.
The only reason the US government wants to do it is as a favor to corporate interests in these regions, and that has been the case all along since our first "intervention" in Iran in 1953.
It has been going on longer than that. Think Hawaii, the Phillipines, Cuba, Nicaragua, Honduras......and you are right, it was for Corporate interests. Shoot, the quest to build the Panama Canal could stand alone as an example. (You should read "Overthrow," by Stephen Kinzer.) But I digress.....
I agree that it is none of our business. As illustrated in this article (http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/09/10/AR2006091001204_pf.html), our presence in Iraq has only strengthened al-Qaeda and the insurgency.
Add to that the fact that almost two thousand troops were discharged as Chapter 11's in 2006, comparing with only a little more than 1500 between 2002 and 2005, our own military is starting to desert this war. These numbers do not even reflect the number of actual deserters.
We need a President who is a leader. We really have not had one since Reagan. As a Democrat, I am starting to watch Rudy Guiliani, yes a Republican candidate, with great interest. Right now, I want to vote for him so bad; it hurts. Yet I have to wait another year and a half?
Here is to hoping that our troops can keep the terrorists at bay until then. God help us if they do not.
Arch.