Buying Iraq
Okay, we pay Saddam to get out of town. And the thousands of other Baathists are going to do what, exactly? Move in with him in his estate in the south of France? Or would another goon have popped into the breach to take his place, since none of the military or other infrastructure of oppression would have been disturbed in the slightest?
The regime was a lot more than just Saddam, or all fighting would have ceased when he left town. It's just as naive to assume we've beaten Al Qaeda if we kill Osama.