Goddard is correct. If a threat is removed -- imminent or not -- America is safer. Dean's statement, "The capture of Saddam has not made America safer," is not true by his own words.
Not really. When Dean said in 2002 that Saddam was a threat, although not an imminent one, Saddam was the ruler of Iraq. When Saddam was caught last weekend, he was living in a small hole. It doesn't seem implausable that the actual capture of Saddam in any way made America safer. Moreover, just because Saddam was a threat does not mean that removing him fixes the threat. It is possible, and Dean seems to hold this position, that invading Iraq has provoked a bigger worldwide threat to the United State's safety.
Corr: It doesn't seem implausable that the actual capture of Saddam did notin any way made America safer.
It all boils down to this: how many Americans in any given year have died as a result of Saddam Hussein that weren't already in Iraq on a war footing? Zero. If we had not invaded Iraq, your life wouldn't have changed one iota.
I think Dean is a disaster waiting to happen for the Democratic Party, but this criticism is 100% bogus.