Well, this is just my personal opinion, but...
I think Iraq was entirely unnecessary. The simple fact that there were no WMDs pretty much proves that. And what chance would we be taking by letting Saddam remain in power? His armies surrendered to camera crews. We walked all over him in a matter of weeks (was it months?). His sons are dead, and he's a beaten man with nothing left for him but to face a farcical trial to display the death of a dictator. There was never any chance that he was going to be any sort of threat to anyone (though was extremely lethal to his own people). I'll concede that he did have terrorist connections. Okay. So there we have a reason to kick him in the balls and take over the place, which we did with prejudice.
And... now we're giving it right
back? That's the real meat of the problem for me. Saddam's former generals have positions of power. The Sunnis and Shi'ites are just as much at each other's throats as they always have been. It's always been a corrupt, insignificant place on the map, and will continue that way when we leave! I seriously doubt that anyone is actually going to be grateful to us for all this in the long run (which is why we have our army

). Especially the Iraqis. That's just not how countries and cultures work... just because we're America that kicks butt and saves the day and topples dictators, well, we can do that until the Second Coming, and just about everyone else will still hate our guts because we
have the power to do that. This isn't going to solve a whole lotta problems.
The job that needs doing, as I see it, is the conquest of a defeated country... it was our enemy when the war began. Its leader spat in our face. Its armies fought against us. It's very people in many cases have taken up arms against us.
Why don't we just get what we need out of this place and gun down anyone who says different? What about all the freaking
oil that's there? Isn't that a goal of most countries nowadays, to control oil and the trading of it? Isn't our rising prices of oil an issue anymore?
As for defeating terrorists on their own ground... well, we're doing that. And they just keep coming. And they always will, for as long as Islam exists as a cohesive force.
But have they ever tried anything against the US on its own soil since 9/11? I think not. Anthrax was a joke. I haven't heard of any major arrests at any of the airports proving that the system is actually catching these guys, or that they're even here in the first place. The World Trade Center collapse was a horrific disaster, yes, I'm not downplaying that... but it was a complete stroke of simple, God-given, all the pieces fit together
luck for Al Quada. I really doubt that Osama Bin Laden actually planned to completely collapse both of those towers. It was shown that engineering errors basically ensured that anyway. These guys are
not as conniving or dangerous as they're made out to be. Real, intelligent,
dangerous terrorists would be hitting the White House. They would try to halt the stock market. They would have smashed those planes into major highways in and out of our more important metropolitan areas. They'd assassinate CEOs. They'd instigate civil unrest. Knocking a couple buildings down should be the least of anyone's worries.
You guys want real terrorists? Try looking at illegal immigrants... and some of their "law-abiding" counterparts. Legality does not lead to love for the country they are obeying the laws of.
Making Iraq democratic should also thus be the least of our worries. Democracy does not automtically ensure freedom, or love, or respect for fellow man. Democracy is just another form of government... and can be manipulated, twisted, and corrupted just as easily, and that will happen in Iraq if we leave it to its own devices. All we're doing right now is creating a power vacuum for the next dictator who can get into office just by saying he'll do a good job.
Personally, I've seen all this as mere proof of America's
weakness as far as doing what's right, or at least beneficial to our own country is concerned.
To put this all into context... I actually missed the speech. I just saw this as a good time to put in my two cents on the matter.