For the first part of the American Revolution, the American rebels were getting their asses handed to them by the British. A sympathetic France, although with plenty of problems of their own, decided to pitch in and help out the struggling new nation. With France's help, the United States was able to become a free and democratic nation. As for France, all hell broke loose, the nation was in major debt and the French Revolution soon wroght havoc all around the country.
Fast forward to the early 20th century when the United States entered WWI and WWII, repaying the favor to France not just once, but twice.
I'm not saying that sometime in the future, Iraq is going to bail us out of any major conflicts, but I believe that having one more friendly, stable state in the Middle East would benefit us.
And Donkey Punch, nobody is calling you a liberal. Just because liberals generally support a viewpoint that you support, doesn't mean that you are a liberal. There's a lot more that goes into that classification that just the conflict in Iraq.