In thinking about that question, I feel it's appropriate to go back to the standard in December '03, when Dean was exorciated for saying what everyone knew was true, that the capture of Saddam Hussein didn't make anyone safer. Dean was attacked for not recognizing that "we" included the troops, and as we all knew Saddam was masterminding the entire "don't call it an insurgency" operation from his spider hole and after his capture there would be no more reason for US troops to be attacked.
Whatever else has gone on, it's certainly not the case that by that definition of "we," we are not safer. Roughly 3000 US troops have died since then.
