Why is the idea of protecting "freedom" used as a means to wage war on a people without a homeland?

Frankly- it's because we're not too bright. We have to get our rear-ends kicked good & propper, before we realise the idiots we voted into Office- are taking us for a ride. It's a depressing thing to admit- but there it is. One of the "downsides" to being a free country- is that we're ALSO free to do dumb things. And one of those dumb things- is going on in Iraq.