I'm sure they're going to get much closer scrutiny now - it's horrible that this had to happen first, though. Since they seem to know who this guy was, no doubt his entire family and circle of thugs have been rounded up by now. From what I've read, Mosul seems to be locked down and we're going door to door.
You are quite that our troops should not be put into unecessary danger. But read the following quotes:
On July 5, columnist and blogger David Warren wrote that instead of exemplifying U.S. mismanagement, Iraq is, like flypaper, a carefully set trap for all budding terrorists. According to the "flypaper theory," Bush was not showing disregard for the welfare of the troops, but was instead revealing a military strategy that draws the enemy away from American soil and unarmed citizens and toward able soldiers.
The "flypaper theory" just recently broke from the underground ranks of weblog enthusiasts into the mainstream media via CNN's interview with Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, who called Iraq a "terrorist magnet," adding, "This is exactly where we want to fight them." L. Paul Bremer, the top civilian administrator in Iraq, further bolstered the theory when an August 9 New York Times story quoted him as saying, "Though it is hard on us here, I would rather be fighting them here than fighting them in New York."