Iraq is the central real estate of the Islamists' domain and gives us a proximal base that moves the killing to the enemy's doorstep and away from ours. It gives us leverage against Iran and Arabia and Syria which are the shief sponsors and homes of our enemies. Iraq was also much easier to invade than these others would be and we had the "right" to go after Iraq in the eyes of the Arabs because Sadam was our avowed enemy and had attacked our former president. The last item pretty much legitimizes the invasion in the eyes of the arabs if not in the words of their press.