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Im hopeful the nation building goes out good too I think too much of the post-Cold War experiences around the world have shown the flipside of nation building.
Part of the problem is that democracy is not always what people want. I love democracy and so I hate saying it but not everyone is made for democracy - take Russia for example. 400 years of authoritarian rule is not erased easily.
In some areas of the world a strong leader/bordering dictator or more is required - the former Yugoslavia is just such an example for when Tito was gone the tensions exploded.
Religion is one of those things that people know but often don't factor in - many people in the U.S. and even on this board are fiercely defensive of their religion. Saying God is a joke or whatever offends many people - the same is true about Islam.
Islam with its own sects and believes are also very split in ideology though the religion is essentially the same while in Christianity we can see it as well with its various groups and ideologies.
Iran is an example of where the minority rulers get kicked out by the majority who want the government in their style. Afghanistan before was the fundamentalist government as well.
The problem IMO is that its not easy to just change people's views overnight - not to mention that the anticolonial feeling is DEEP within the Arab nations. This tradition has gone back many years.
These are the differences between Germany and Japan though a far major player than those reasons above was the Cold War - for Germany the alternative of freedom under democracy was oppression under communism - a pretty big no brainer.
Japanese culture was built on obedience and when the Emperor said its time to surrender and change, they took it - oh and the Japanese version of democractic tradition was the Meiji period as essentailly democracy was somewhat there before the military took over.
Anyways its mainly those major points that sorta set apart the argument that Iraq and Afghanistan are like Germany and japan - imo its these points that really set it up and Iraq and Afghanistan are uncharted waters.
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