re: Colonizing Iraq ?
Raoul, as I've pointed out more than once, until 1992 the U.S. had more troops in Europe than currently are in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. Even now, there are still almost 100,000 U.S. troops in Europe.
The U.S. military is the only reason you are still living in an independent country, and not in either a Nazi-ruled country or a Soviet satellite nation. The Nazis ate Belgium in 18 days. Absent the U.S. European presence for over half a century, the Soviets would have taken a bit longer, but not much.
Kindly keep this in mind when discussing American troops overseas.