USA Today: Has Iraq War Made U.S. Safer? That's Questionable

Here's why. Standing in front of a political backdrop - "Protecting America" - to underscore his message, Bush made a three-point argument Monday for how the Iraq war had made Americans safer. First, a tyrant had been removed. Second, U.S. efforts to foster democracy were transforming Iraq into "an example" for the region. And third, Iraqi and U.S. forces were fighting terrorists.

Here's the link.

I won't dispute point #1. Yes, we did remove a tyrant. But that begs the question...What did we replace said tyrant with?

Point #2 is a joke, particularly with all the law-free zones in Iraqi prisons and in light of Iraqi prime ministers who execute insurgents personally with a handgun. An example for the region? That's not the kind of example I'd want to set.

As for point #3, do we have to go over this nonsense about the connection between Iraq and 9/11? There is none. We're fighting terrorists, but they're largely terrorists of our own creation. When you overthrow a dictatorial regime in the Middle East, there are bound to be uprisings and insurgencies that use terrorist tactics to achieve their goals. Think 15-year-old boys would strap on bomb belts and blow up U.S. checkpoints if we hadn't invaded in the first place? I doubt it.