I will just mention that after 9/11, one of the very first things that George Bush said was that we would NOT stay around for 20 years to occupy the middle east. This was at a presser before we actually attacked. And I don't think you can have that attitude, but I realize the public doesn't go along with the forever occupiers attitude. There's no good way to do it. I was very discouraged by that, some 21 years ago almost.
I always tell people, we occupy Germany and Japan TODAY. They can argue, but it's important to give them enough shock to consider exactly what are we doing TODAY 75 years after world war 2. If people at least try to figure out where the USA military is stationed overseas right now, they can at least try to guess why. Nation building is really pretty much impossible. You can never be sure. Human nature is always out to get you. It's not because somebody is a republican and somebody else is a democrat, either. That kind of means to explain it is truly only satisfying for idiots.