the means we are now following has saved lives?

not unless youre one of the 600+ US and Coalition soldiers, and 10,000 or so Iraqi dead.
for that matter 1950 or so have died in the 30 months since 911,
(Bali, Kenya, Saudi Madrid, etc) contrast that with the 30 months before 911.)

Im also sure that invading Iraq has made the ISlamic world more sympathetic to the US and the number of Alqaeda recruits has decreased.

the premise for the war was the WMD threat, but since they havent materialized, or to paraphrase Rumsfeld 'absence of evidence' does seem to be 'evidence of absence', the reasoning has now shifted to how bad Saddam was and the crimes toward his people - and yet even last May Wolfowitz said that 'crimes toward his people' is no reason enough for American kids to die.