Mcelheny - thank you! Unfortunately, the war has not made us safer. Senate majority leader Harry Reid summarized it in remarks at this link: http://democrats.senate.gov/newsroom...cfm?id=295281&
The article essentially says: the civil war in Iraq persists; our military is stretched too thin and its ability to address new threats is compromised; Colin Powell has said our military is about broken; we've taken our eye off the ball in Afghanistan and things are backsliding there; because of iraq, the National Guard (designed to protect us at home) don't have the personnel and equipment to do their job adequately; our moral authority in the world has been shattered by Bush's cowboy politics - our former allies won't stand by our side - our ability to solve problems by diplomacy is diminished.

Senator Reid further says: “We have already lost 4,000 young Americans. 30,000 more have been wounded, many gravely. We are now spending $12 billion every month on the war. That’s almost $300,000 each minute. The President told us the war would cost no more than $60 billion. We’ve already spent ten times that much.

“We are building barracks in Iraq when we should be helping millions of Americans avoid losing their homes to foreclosure. We are policing the streets of Baghdad when we should be investing in universal health care and a better education system. We are protecting oil fields in Basra when we should be funding renewable energy production to help stem the tide of global warming.

“When all is finally said and done, experts say the war is going to cost as much as $3 trillion or more. Where does that $3 trillion come from? It’s all borrowed from future generations. The legacy of our generation could be to leave our children and grandchildren with a safer, cleaner, more prosperous country. Instead, the war in Iraq will ensure that we leave future generations with trillions of dollars in debt.

“Instead of making our own country safer, we are greasing the pockets of corrupt Iraqi politicians and buying their temporary cooperation. And let’s not forget – Iraq is not a poor country. Far from it. Their oil resources make them one of the world’s wealthiest. Record high oil prices have supplied Iraq with literally more money than they know what to do with.

“As we borrow and spend billions of dollars to provide the security state that the Iraqi government has failed to create for themselves, Iraq is bringing in billions in oil money faster than they can open bank accounts to store it all.

“If a parent gives a teenager the choice of either getting a job or receiving an allowance for doing nothing, the teenager will of course choose to do nothing. As long as we guarantee to the Iraqi government that our troops and our money will support them, they will never have incentive to do the job themselves. The security welfare state we’ve created will go on and on forever.