[Mariner]

"We should have supported Daffy, Mubrak and Assad. Since Saddam was already gone, we should have replaced him with a ‘bastard’ loyal to us. We should have installed a ‘bastard’ to rule Trashcanistan for us, too."

That's the truth, right there.

Should have saved any follow-on operaions for taking out Iran and putting the Shah's son in charge.

With whatever logistical support he required.

[Little Ray]

Dunno ‘bout that.
We had a good solid lawful basis for attacking Afghanistan and even Iraq. We might have had an issue finding a lawful reason for cleaning house in Iran.
But if we did find one...