A major line of criticism against the Dubya administration's conduct of the Iraq war was that they essentially tried to start Iraq over after defeating the Iraqis militarily and seizing Baghdad, essentially laying off the entire Iraqi Army and the civil service of the Ba'ath Party state.
What if the U.S. instead sought to come to a settlement with a Saddam-free version of the Iraqi state?
Would it have a partner both receptive to working together on reconstruction and reform, that also remained capable of staying in power?
Why or why not?