I was interested to see what my friend Tom had to say about it. He's the most well-read on all military conflicts of anyone I've ever known, ever - so here's what he said:

I am glad he asked. I see the Phiilipnes, Panama, Grenada, Nicarauga and even
the fledgling democracy of Afghanistan as answers to that question, I think
he is talking about Chile (hey, he wasn't as bad as the commies at least)
and perhaps South Vietnam as well. Also bear in mind that many of the new
democracies in Eastern Europe looked to us for guidance that we did provide
to them, especially Hungary. It is easy to get discouraged and only see the
bad. I am not immune from that, nor is anyone else. Taking the long view and
delving into the books of history does help.

Other cases in point might be the Pahlevis in Iran and the military in
Baghdad. Here, it is more difficult to say who was right or wrong. The
Pahlevis were of course deposed by Khomeini and the fundamentalist
revolution in 1980. In Iraq, the military were deposed by the Baath Party,
and today all the world knows the problems there; just turn on Fox News or
CNN.

It is interesting to note that most of the governments we helped change AFTER
the Cold War were more stable and more humane.

~ entilzhavalen