Your estimates are still quite conservative. For example, you bring up Germany as an example, a country that at least had some democratic institutions in place and had toyed with the notion of a republic earlier (none of which existed in Iraq), yet we STILL have a very large military footprint there…the occupation “transitioned” into NATO basing. And Germany was largely a homogeneous people. The same thing would not only have happened, but been required in Iraq. They are and always have been a very divided people. 10 years? Try talking in decades, not years and you get closer to the mark.
And its not just about the dollar figure in rebuilding Iraq. To install and nurture concepts necessary for a democracy would have required much more attention to things like a free press, a fair and impartial judicial system, developing the notion of a loyal opposition without resulting to violent rhetoric, which all too often leads to blood in the streets, open and universal suffrage, basic concepts of human rights such as majority rules with minority rights…and all of these ideas are not particularly popular for the GOP here at home…let alone developing them somewhere else in the world. Especially with a President well known for his lacking of intellectual curiosity and a perchance for growing bored fairly quickly.
No, W. never had any intentions of rebuilding Iraq into a democracy. He wanted to one up Daddy, and after that, he wanted it to go away, which left it wide up for the PNAC crew surrounding him. And they merely wanted a base of operations for future expansions in the area, so they had no interest in rebuilding Iraq beyond just providing the basic necessities for such a base…and of course, regulating the flow of oil.