We here in the US can toss our opinions on the Iraqi war back and forth but I believe it's helpful to hear from those most affected - the Iraqi citizens. In particular, I'd like to promote this site - Iraq the Model (sorry, dude - no swimsuit pics here). It's mostly the work of Ali Fadhil, a 34-year old Iraqi doctor in Baghdad. A couple money quotes showing Iraqis are better off in most every way:
"Maybe in a real sense, I am less safe than I was under Saddam. But then I never felt safe. We were always in fear of some bad surprise from the authorities. Now, the threat is different, but it is random (he is thinking of the car bombs). Personally I also feel safer because I am free."

He is also better off, making about $200 a month instead of the $3 a month doctors earned under the Baathists. Ali is appalled by the terrorists, but not surprised. "We are at war and the enemy is fighting back, so why be surprised about that?" he asks. "Iran, some in Saudi Arabia, all the Islamist groups, and the former Baathists, of course, naturally are funding the fighting. They want to terrorize us before the elections, so things are going to get worse before then. But when terrorists see that the people demand democracy, they will feel they have lost. Many will leave."
Ali is more worried about the Americans, given John Kerry's talk of setting an announced timetable for the removal of U.S. troops, and he is dismayed by U.S. commentators and career bureaucrats who say that democracy in Iraq is impossible. "What they really are saying is that we are barbarians. There is some racism in that. They despise Islam and think it cannot reform itself or lead to reform. They think we are so ignorant we need a dictator."

But "look at what happened in Najaf when the US chased out al Sadr. The media said the people were angry, but they were only angry with al Sadr. They demonstrated against al Sadr and for the [interim] government. There was very little news on that."