My only other thought was this;was a U.S. presence in some of these countries, a deterant for other countries not to invade them?
Interesting question. We fought a war in SE Asia in which I lost a good personal friend and also a cousin among the 53k dead and were they in the end invaded and over run? That did happen in 1975' and many would argue it happened because we left because of politics and they would have a point. However come forward 30 years and where is Vietnam today. Not only a US friend but also a trading partner with many US companies having a presence and doing busiess there.
A couple of weeks ago I happen to walk by our ODC area and saw a stack of international packages being processed and 3 caught my eye. All were addressed going to Vietnam so even after the invasion if you will, they still became our friend and trading partner. Recently in a local store a nice gathering table caught my eye and to my surprise the table was made in Vietnam and the craftsmanship wasn't bad either. IMO so much for the need to fight that damn war in the first place with the blood of my generation!
A famous movie line was "war is politics by other means" which is true but equally and IMO more true is "war is economic power and expansion by other means!"
Along that same line I believe Iraq was a similar fashion and history over time will bare that out more and more. The 2 prinicple parties wanting the US to attack and overthrow Iraq were Israel and Saudi Arabia and my guess is the passion was equal on both sides as both had vested interests. Israel's is economic as well as geographic expansion but Saudi's is very much an economic interest by keeping Iraq's oil controlled as well as stopping Saddam from creating an oil market outside of Opec's London/New York markets that would trade in Euro's. Oddly enough Iran threatened the same a few years back at which time Iran became the new enemy focus of the triad powers.
Israel and Saudia Arabia contrary to myth are silent partners with the US in shaping Middle East policy and it might be an interesting discussion to have with Osama bin Laden as to who he hates more, the Saudi royals or the Zionists. My guess the hatred would be such as you'd lose track as to who was who.
BTW: To add to the insult, we now know that the Gulf of Tonkin incident was a lie and even admitted as much by McNamara himself.
War of Vietnam - The Gulf of Tonkin incident
Was the Persian Gulf confrontations with Iran just another decoy?
Ron Paul - Gulf of Tonkin