Although I wasn't there when it happened, the general attitude of the period seemed to be, 'Can we at least get our ******* troops out of that hellhole of a New World? It's nothing but a money sink, anyway! They don't even want to pay their taxes and it's halfway around the world. It's just not worth it. Let the trash we left over there and the Indians kill each other.'
That's what I picked up in my history classes, anyway. This place was viewed as just not worth the effort it would take to keep a hold on it. People who demand to be free and are willing to win that freedom at any cost, will be free. Or dead. But the problem won't linger.
I'm of the opinion that we're currently doing the right thing in Iraq. Often, the right thing is the one that's hardest to do and most criticized. Those people will cherish their freedom, once they have had it long enough to understand what it is. It is not easy for them; they suffer daily in this war, sometimes at the hands of their 'liberators.' Once we have pulled out, then they will begin to actually govern themselves. They will make decisions, not all of which will be the ones we want. They will be sovereign. They will probably make drastic changes to the governing structure. And more likely than not, they will oppose our wishes from time to time just to show that they are not our puppets. But they will no longer be headed down the road to sure destruction that Saddam had the country on. It will be a path of their own choosing.
As for all of those nasty things said about America in the opening statements, most of them are true. But we're still the most powerful economic and military force on the planet. That goes for the USA individually and America(s) as well if you lump us all together. So what does that make everyone else? Second fiddle. So shut up and follow our lead.