unfair

If you were the prime minister of a foreign country and the United States said it wanted 58 military bases in your territory, would you expect that part of the price would include a commitment from the US to defend your country if attacked by a foreign power?

Iraq PM Maliki wants such a commitment, and believes that such a commitment had been made by the US. But now, in ongoing negotiations to determine exactly what sort of bases the US can maintain in Iraq, the US has apparently backed off of such a guarantee.

That seems a bit unfair. We went into Iraq, wrecked the place, want to keep troops there in 58 bases. And after all that, we aren't willing to defend it from foreign aggression?

So what was the point of the invasion again?