You spout a lot of “WE”. Which all seems a little short sighted, the Iraqi people overwhelmingly wished for the removal of Saddam The Shia majority were terrorised and victimised by the Sunni minority, that’s without looking at the Kurds and the years of insurgency being fought before the coalition invaded. As for the creation of abject misery in Iraq not quite, the internal sectarian and tribal fighting has been going on for centuries and shall continue for many more. “WE” are not responsible for the actions of others, “WE” attempted to instil democratic governance and infrastructure “THEY “ the people of Iraq decided against it. Although it is holding somewhat with time.
As for Afghanistan, the Afghan people again wished for the removal of the Taliban and still do, the fact is the great western public are unwilling to watch as war unfolds on the TV screens any more, the real issue resulting in he collapse of The Afghan government is the corruption of Afghans. Creating false divisions of soldiers to pocket the wages. Again the tribal fighting that continues today has been happening for centuries and will continue to happen.
As for the death squads by an occupying force wholehearted nonsense and proven to be time and time again, yes we’re people killed asleep in bed , unarmed, running away. They wholeheartedly were generally by drone strikes air or artillery, as combatants under war fighting rules of engagement all perfectly legal. That is warfare unfortunately. Did this happen under peace support or enforcement ROE no not on a mass scale every rule has an exception, these cases on the whole have been highlighted and investigated.
As for the plan B you speak of the Plan A,B,C in fact all the way to Z was to hand over the running of both these nations to the people of these nations to control their own destiny which has now been done.
Too many people came home in body bags or without limbs to continue in to perpetuity propping up corrupt governments, the independence sought was taken and now the future is theirs to shape.
The debate about either the timing was right or wrong is a pointless one.
The world is where it is, much like the long grown old argument that the empire is responsible for the state of Africa. It is all nonsense these nations must shape the future for themselves.
History can be debated for eternity whilst the future flounders under the eyes of the shortsighted.