The Iraqi people had a dictator who slaughtered his own people, etc. If the "foreign occupiers" leave at the wrong time, they could easily see the rise of another.
For example, the removal of the Shah led to the as repressive, if not more repressive, Ayatollahs. The people of East Germany went from Hitler to the Communists.
As discussed above, the US wants out of the country at the appropriate time. That is quite different than either a colonial policy or abandoning the country to a potential new dictator who wants to stay for life.
Agreed.
While I think oil interests are a big part of the reason why the West has fucked around with the Middle East over the last century, I don't think they are the driving reason behind Iraq (though I do think that the oil industry has a lot of influence in the US government due to the history of many of the people at the top, and while people might be paying record prices, Oil companies are making hefty profits )
The sad thing is, Iraq may well vote itself into chunks so that can have lots of dictators. The people there don't especially get or care about the concept of democracy and may well be registering purely to ensure their Religion gets in rather than based on political beliefs.
