As the United States, under George Bush, enters its 5th year of occupation of Iraq...

As 4 more U.S. Senators, including freshman Senators Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) , lead another "fact-finding" tour of Iraq ...

As thousands upon thousands of Americans of all faiths, ages and ethnicities and in cities across the nation publicly protest the continuing presence of U.S. forces in Iraq...

As Mayor Sabir al-Isawi of Baghdad argues that U.S. priorities for his city are "not what the people want," and that U.S.-driven projects are "badly planned" and that "the workers hired are ineffective"...

As President Bush relaxes at Camp David this 4th anniversary of his administration's unprovoked attack on Iraq...

... American soldiers continue to be killed and maimed daily in Iraq. The Iraq War costs the U.S over $200 million a day. $8.5 million an hour. $142,000 a minute.

And the Iraqi people suffer. Iraqi refugees who've escaped their war-torn home country for Syria and Jordan are estimated at 1.3 million to 1.75 million . And another 750,000 Iraqis are internally "displaced" (i.e. homeless or living in refugee camps) by the U.S.-initiated war.

Inflation in Iraq in 2006 was 50%. Unemployment ranges from 25% to 60%, when curfews don't prohibit work. Fully 40% of Iraqi professionals... doctors, teachers, attorneys, accountants, nurses... have fled the country since the U.S. invasion. And as of May 2006, 25% of Iraqi children suffered from malnutrition. (See Iraq War Statistics as of March 14, 2007.)

And, of course, Iraqi citizens have been killed in droves. The U.S. Defense Department doesn't take the effort to accurately count the Iraqi civilian dead. Informed estimates range from 60,000 to well over 600,000.

Remind me again... how did this discretionary war help Iraqis?

Yes, Saddam Hussein was a cruel dictator (and apparently a withered, powerless old man). But Hussein was captured on December 13, 2003.

How has the Iraq War improved the lives of Iraqis since Hussein's capture more than 3 years ago? How does continuation of the Iraq War benefit Iraqis today?

Or is this about U.S. power? Is this about U.S. profits? Is this about conquering, not helping, Iraq?

Recommended Reading
Iraq War Results & Statistics as of March 14, 2007
Iraq War Vote in 2002: The 156 Who Voted NO
The Iraq Study Group's 79 Recommendations Summarized
Rep. John Murtha's Nov 2005 Plan to Exit Iraq
Profile of Army General David Petraeus, New U.S. Commander in Iraq (U.S. Foreign Policy)