large scale "boots on the ground" invasions are pretty hard to sell to the american public. they don't generally want to see american soldiers die without a goo

large scale "boots on the ground" invasions are pretty hard to sell to the american public. they don't generally want to see american soldiers die without a good reason. retaliating against the people who harbored bin laden is already a pretty good reason, and liberating the subjects of an oppressive regime is icing on the cake. of course, it's hard to paint a regime as oppressive without also calling them "backwards". after all, if they were as advanced as us westerners, surely they would have a free democratic society already. /s