Could have. But would it have. Doubt it.

 The major motivation for disarmanent agreements over missles with the Soviet Union was not world peace but the cost of building and maintaining these weapons. Both sides realized the cost of one missle equaled 5,000 tractors. Unfortunately, with Iraq the US taxpayer is footing the bill without costs or returns from the other side. If Iraq became a strong central government, resolved the internal divisions, secured its border, bringing our troops home would also bring a booming war economy in Iraq to an end.

The money spent in Iraq could have rebuilt America's crumbling water pipelines.

Two hours north of New York City, a mile-long stream and a marsh the size of a football field have mysteriously formed along a country road. They are such a marvel that people come from miles around to drink the crystal-clear water, believing it is bubbling up from a hidden natural spring. The truth is far less romantic: The water is coming from a cracked 70-year-old tunnel hundreds of feet below ground, scientists say.

The tunnel is leaking up to 36 million gallons a day as it carries drinking water from a reservoir to the big city. It is a powerful warning sign of a larger problem around the country: The infrastructure that delivers water to the nation's cities is badly aging and in need of repairs.

The Environmental Protection Agency says utilities will need to invest more than $277 billion over the next two decades on repairs and improvements to drinking water systems. Water industry engineers put the figure drastically higher, at about $480 billion. Water utilities, largely managed by city governments, have never faced improvements of this magnitude before. And customers will have to bear the majority of the cost through rate increases, according to the American Water Works Association, an industry group.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/...

 We are supposedly the government, if "we the people" are still "the people" in this country. All it takes is the will to get it done, and we could direct the tax dollars into projects we need. Wasting hundreds of billions of dollars on military projects should stop.

"The government" mostly stopped listening to me in January, 2001.  They had a "mandate," remember?

Truth be told, the new Democratic leadership in the House and Senate aren't listening too good either.