That was a really long article! But I read it; quite interesting.

For instance:
“Iraq needs to be liberated—liberated from big plans,” Salamé said. “Every time people mentioned it in the last few years, it was to connect it to big ideas—the war against W.M.D.s, solving the Arab-Israeli conflict, the war against terrorism, a model of democracy. That’s why all these mistakes are made. They’re made because Iraq is always, in someone’s mind, the first step to something else.”

If Iraq doesn't become a democracy, then it will all have been in vain.
We can compare with 2 countries: Turkey and Algeria.
If it's a democracy like Turkey, then it's great! (even if the government is islamist, but it's a secular government). There are 2 reasons why it works in Turkey: Turkey is very close to Europe (Istambul is partly inside Europe) and Turkey has not been colonized by western empires.
In 1992, Algeria wasn't allowed to become a democracy as the election winners were islamists (not secular) and the army stayed in power.
Algeria was a former colony (it had become independant 30 years before 1992).
Iraq was also a former colony which is now re-occupied.

Raoul