[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by trndobrd

Both Germany and Japan were left with the option of getting on board with the American team, or cuddling up with Uncle Joe Stalin. Beyond that, both had strong governmental infrastructure which the US largely left in place at the local level, nor were the allies shy about being an occupiers.

Vietnam needs someplace to sell shirts and soccer balls. Nike won the war.

A huge point you are missing is that these three countries did not tremendous religious/ethnic hatreds internally. They were largely homogenous and therefore the chances of internal strife greatly minimized.

The country of Iraq is just a series of lines drawn on a map in the 20s in England. Since then, it has had nothing holding it together except authoritarian rule. Tremendously fertile ground for ethnic/religious strife. Afghanistan is an area dominated by tribal rivalries.