Don’t care about Reagan’s quote. Must be the son that you are referring to, so what?
But I do take exception with the quote from lawrence of arabia that you have posted beneath. What was the disaster? The British did succeed in pacifying Iraq and ruled the country nominally for another 12 years before “influencing” it another 26. This was the Golden Age of Iraq’s economy and it was prosperous and mostly at peace. Then the king was overthrown in 1958 and things started to deteriorate. The fact that the oil facilities and economy were so well-developed ensured Iraq relative prosperity for another 20 years until Saddam started his disastrous wars. Then, Saddam nationalized everything and took away the wonderful system of free enterprise. It will take a while to restore this, but I would say that anyone who thinks that the British did not succeed and that this was not good for Iraq is sadly sadly mistaken.
What exactly are your conclusions? That the US will be equally successful in Iraq and that this will bring stability for at least 40 to 60 years. I concur. Glad to see we agree!