Throwing Georgie under the Bus

[Undertoad]

The last time Flint asked this exact question, which apparently will be asked ad infinitum for some reason, I pointed him to the Strategic Overview and all he could do it mock me for it. Here's the Iraq section.

1. Stage 2: Iraq
   1. Goal of Stage 2: we had to conquer one of the big antagonistic Arab nations and take control of it.
      1. To directly reduce support for terrorist groups by eliminating one government which had been providing such support.
      2. To place us in a physical and logistical position to be able to apply substantial pressure on the rest of the major governments of the region.
         1. To force them to stop protecting and supporting terrorist groups
         2. To force them to begin implementing political and social reforms
      3. To convince the governments and other leaders of the region that it was no longer fashionable to blame us for their failure, so that they would stop using us as scapegoats.
      4. To make clear to everyone in the world that reform is coming, whether they like it or not, and that the old policy of stability-for-the-sake-of-stability is dead. To make clear to local leaders that they may only choose between reforming voluntarily or having reform forced on them.
      5. To make a significant long term change in the psychology of the "Arab Street"
         1. To prove to the "Arab Street" that we were willing to fight, and that our reputation for cowardice was undeserved.
         2. To prove that we are extraordinarily dangerous when we do fight, and that it is extremely unwise to provoke us.
         3. To defeat the spirit of the "Arab Street". To force them to face their own failure, so that they would become willing to consider the idea that reform could lead them to success. No one can solve a problem until they acknowledge that they have a problem, and until now the "Arab Street" has been hiding from theirs, in part aided by government propaganda eager to blame others elsewhere (especially the Jews).
      6. To "nation build". After making the "Arab Street" truly face its own failure, to show the "Arab Street" a better way by creating a secularized, liberated, cosmopolitan society in a core Arab nation. To create a place where Arabs were free, safe, unafraid, happy and successful. To show that this could be done without dictators or monarchs. (I've been referring to this as being the pilot project for "Arab Civilization 2.0".)
      7. Not confirmed: It may have been hoped that the conquered nation would serve as a honey-pot to attract militants from the region, causing them to fight against our troops instead of planning attacks against civilians. (This was described by David Warren as the flypaper strategy.) It seems to have worked out that way, but it's not known if this was a deliberate part of the plan. Many of the defenders who died in the war were not actually Iraqis.