I know that I certainly feel safer with Saddam out of the way.
That's where you and I differ greatly.
Um, Randy, I think WOW has a extremely valid point here. Safer from what? Since our invasion of Iraq, sure, Hussain is out, but since he had no WMD to use, how was getting rid of him of any difference to us?
But let's look at how things are now. Thanks to Bush, the mideastern terrorists who actually
DO hate us have a new haven of operations - Iraq - where they were never welcomed before. Easy American targets are plentiful. The war has galvanized other, more moderate Arab countries to rethink their alliances with the U.S. and the west in general. Gas prices, if you haven't noticed, have skyrocketed (maybe the scariest thing of all)
But hey, we've brought "democracy" to a country that never has had it, never can quite understand it, and routinely assassinates political opponents to rid themselves of competition and to consolidate power. The next leader of Iraq will not be named Saddam, but I highly doubt he will be acting much different ten years from now. But our invasion certainly freed the Iraqi people from the known evil to open up this unknown future.
Iraq is the Balkans of the Middle East, with three distinct groups that can only wage war on each other - in the past, in the present, and in the future. One group will eventually prevail and preceed to subjegate the other two, just like always.