] The question lingers: Could the $144.4 billion spent on
] Iraq been better used to protect the American people from
] terrorist threats? The Center for American Progress
] offers this answer.

The Center for American Progress is a nonpartisan research group. Without taking sides for or against the war in Iraq, they examine how the cost of the war (now some 144 BILLON) could have been used to fund security inititives here in the US. Interestingly enough, most of these inititives are things recommended by the 9/11 Commitee, that the Bush Administration has underfunded or completely ignored.

The Opportunity Costs of the Iraq War