The occupied really love the occupiers but...

This is a common story with occupiers.  Occupiers always suffer from the delusion that the natives-under-occupation would really have appreciated and loved the occupation if it were not for a nasty foreign conspiracy against the occupiers.  Israeli occupiers said in the 1970s that Palestinians would have really appreciated Israeli occupation if it were not for a nasty Soviet conspiracy.  Here, the New York Times and US government argue that people of Afghanistan would have really enjoyed the burning of Qur'an, the urination on dead bodies, and the shooting at civilians if it were not for the nasty Iranian conspiracy in that country.  Kid you not.