As the tension and conflict grows in post-Saddam Iraq, the most horrific and deplorable act of violence since the beginning of the American occupation took place this morning in the town of Fallujah, a Sunni Triangle city about 35 miles west of the capital City of Baghdad - and a stronghold for supporters of Former Iraqi Dictator Saddam Hussein.

The unfortunate victims of this unforgivable attack were four male U.S. contractors who worked for the U.S.-led Coalition. As they were traveling through Fallujah in two Sport Utility Vehicles, they were ambushed by pro-Saddam rebels - who not only attacked their SUVs with the contractors still inside with small-arms fire and rocket-propelled grenades - but proceeded to pull them out of the vehicles, beat them with metal poles, tie ropes to their bodies that were hooked to a car, and drag them down the main street of town while shouting, "Fallujah is the graveyard of Americans." If that is not deplorable enough, they then took two of the contractor's burned and dismembered corpses - and hung them from a bridge over the Euphrates river...

...and we want to spend $87 billion dollars of our money to rebuild their country.

I ask, is that money well spent?

When we went into Iraq with the goal of removing Saddam Hussein from power, we promised the Iraqi people that, after we restored the fresh air of freedom to their country, we would commit to helping to rebuild it. Then, after President Bush declared "mission accomplished" in Iraq on May 1, 2003, Congress signed a Bill on October 17, 2003 dedicating $87.5 billion dollars of U.S. funds to fulfill our promise to rebuild their country.

What about rebuilding our country?

Right now, in post-9/11 America, the National Unemployment Rate stands at 5.6%, there are 75 million Americans without healthcare, over 800,000 Americans are homeless - and as of March 30, 2004, The United States National Debt is exactly $7,129,537,278,372.83.

Wouldn't that $87.5 billion be better spent here?

Please do not think I don't care about the Iraqi people - on the contrary, I am happy that they are free of the tyrannical grasp of Saddam and want nothing more than for them to rebuild the country he so greedily destroyed. I just don't feel that we should take an amount of money that would cure a lot of the problems we have here at home and spend it elsewhere - especially in a country that hates us and wants us out rather than in. I know that we promised to help the Iraqis and I think we should, but perhaps there is a better - and less expensive way.