Its obvious you don't want the US to suceed. Sucess would be defined as a democratic government being established that has the ability to hold power through economic, political and military status.
Is that impossible? No. Why? Because daily progress is being made. Of course if you want to look at the negative side of everything, death and destruction, no one would define Iraq as a sucess. But the same could be said for WW1 and 2.
Maybe we should ask the Iraqi people what "they" think about the war. Of course the numerous polls that have been conducted have all shown the Iraqi people will a favourable viewpoint of their life. But there are always idiots like yourself that try to downgrade that.
Like one of my brothers(currently stationed in Iraq) once said, "if you've never been here, then shut the hell up." The media presents "one" side of the story.
All hell breaks lose? The US was winning the war in Vietnam under Nixon. Until Watergate that is. Then the US, under the democrats pulled out and the communist forces overtook all of Vietnam and killed millions of innocent civilians. Suprisingly to the left-wing media out there, thats a forgotten reality.
Neither Vietnam nor Korea were fought on terms that weren't justified. I guess you're on of those people that would have protested the US fighting Germany in WW2, since it was actually Japan that attacked Pearl Harbour.
The US could take Iran out in one strike. But I really don't understand why you would think they would do it alone. Israel has a capable military, capable enough to invade Iran and take over.
Like Firefly once said on this board. Wars are good for the economy, and the US invading Iraq would only drive up the GDP even more. But I guess if the UN sits on their ass and doesn't do anything against Iran, it will be left to the US to deal with their idiot of a President.
What cost? The cost of democracy is never too high, and if the US can establish a sucessful democracy in Iraq, it would be the domino effect going the other way.