# Are we any safer now? ("Post" Iraq War) **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 19, 2003, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-any-safer-now-post-iraq-war/196231 "2003-08-19T16:45:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![errata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/839c29/32.png) [@errata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/errata)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-any-safer-now-post-iraq-war/196231/21 "2003-08-20T22:00:45Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by X~Slayer(ALE) \* > Exactly my point. We dont know if this is a lull caused by Iraq drawing in all the murderous yahoos to Iraq, cutting up Al Qaeda to ribbons in Afghanistan, heightened 9-11 security measures, changing intelligence personnel or policies, visible military presence in hot areas, administration policies toward terrorists and rogue states, or if they just went on vacation. > > Its too soon to tell. Well, tens of thousands of US citizens are currently at a very high risk of terrorist attack in Iraq and they’re being attacked almost daily. That’s a risk they wouldn’t have faced before, and one that the US is now committed to for some time. Somehow I don’t think the point of this war was to topple Saddam just in case two years down the line we **might** be able to tell if it acheived any security goals or not. I mean come on, why don’t we just roll the dice the next time we pick a country to invade? Beacause, who knows, maybe retroactively we can figure out how it helped our security interests two years down the road. It seems to me that either: A. we didn’t have any clear verifiable security objectives or B. We didn’t accomplish them because US citizens are dying and we don’t know where the big bad WMD’s are. ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-any-safer-now-post-iraq-war/196231/22 "2003-08-20T23:32:49Z")
Well, these tens of thousands of US citizens in Iraq are armed to the teeth, highly trained, very motivated and are in good spirits overall. They are the protectors of those citizens who are not as armed or trained as they are. It is their job to be at risk and to handle that risk with all means available. They go where the risk is instead of waiting for it to go to them. Dont think that if we had not invaded Iraq that risk would not have existed. The very real threat of Saddam is evident in his decades long belligerancy. Better now than to have to fight a world war later. Yes, US citizens are dying and some quite violently. They know the risks and are there in spite of it. The trick is not not let them die in vain. ---
**Author:** ![Reeder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2003, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-any-safer-now-post-iraq-war/196231/23 "2003-08-20T23:40:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by X~Slayer(ALE) \* > \*\*snip… > > Yes, US citizens are dying and some quite violently. They know the risks and are there in spite of it. The trick is not not let them die in vain. \*\* They are there because they can’t leave. How many do you think would stay if given the chance to come home? ---
**Author:** ![errata](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/839c29/32.png) [@errata](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/errata)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 2:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-any-safer-now-post-iraq-war/196231/24 "2003-08-21T02:11:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by X~Slayer(ALE) \* > Dont think that if we had not invaded Iraq that risk would not have existed. The very real threat of Saddam is evident in his decades long belligerancy. Better now than to have to fight a world war later. That’s funny. I don’t remember this many soldiers dying before the war. Must have been dumb luck, huh? Keep in mind the OP address the risks to US citizens not US hegemony. Therefore Saddam’s beligerence needs to be quantified in those terms. How exactly was Saddam threatening US lives before? ---
**Author:** ![Publius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c57346/32.png) [@Publius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Publius)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2003, 3:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-any-safer-now-post-iraq-war/196231/25 "2003-08-21T03:01:06Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by X~Slayer(ALE) \* > \*\* Well, these tens of thousands of US citizens… are in good spirits overall. \*\* I would hope this is the case, but I have my doubts. The sister of a good friend of mine just got back from a USO-style tour through the Middle East and Central Asia with the USA Express Touring Band. She encountered the lowest morale in Iraq that she has ever encountered anywhere in the military. One thing that particularly struck her was that, unlike soldiers at other bases throughout the region, soldiers in Iraq seemed so depressed that they remained huddled in their chairs for most of the show. Things like morale are of course incredibly difficult to quantify, but to hear her tell it things were Pretty Damn Bad. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-we-any-safer-now-post-iraq-war/196231.md?page=1)