Bring our troops home.

Dear Mr. President,

It is time to bring the troops out of Iraq not time to send more in. Every American is asking, when will it end? After four years, you would think our troops would be home, safe and sound. Yet here you are advocating sending more troops into the chaos. January 10, 2007 you asked for 20,000 more troops be sent into Iraq; part of your New Way Forward Plan. Last week that number grew to 30,000. When will you realize that enough is enough? It is time to bring the troops out of Iraq not time to send more in. How many innocent lives must be lost before you realize that you made a huge mistake sending us into this war? A strong President would have the courage to admit that he made a mistake and take action to correct it. You, Mr. President, on the other hand hide behind “the war on terrorism”; trying to make Americans believe that the only way to succeed is to continue this ludicrous fight; a fight, a battle, a war that no longer has a convincing cause. It is time to realize that many Americans no longer support the war. Many Americans, along with myself, wonder why we are continuing this fight. Can you truly answer that question, Mr. President? America is waiting…

A recent polls conducted by CBS News revealed that only 25% of Americans believe that the military can be truly effective in curbing the fight between Iraqis. Half of Americans believe that the war is getting worse and nearly three-fourths reported that they believe the war is going poorly. Two thirds oppose your troop surge, Mr. President, and 45% say that Congress should block funding for more troops in Iraq. As of the beginning of this month 505 billion dollars have been spent on this war and on March 10, 2007 you requested 3.2 billion more dollars to send troops into Iraq. These figures are becoming astronomical!

May I remind you of a speech that you gave May 1, 2003 aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, you said; “… my fellow Americans: Major combat operations in Iraq have ended. In the battle of Iraq, the United States and our allies have prevailed. And now our coalition is engaged in securing and reconstructing that country.” You gave this speech four years ago and here you are now asking for more troops to be sent into Iraq. This war should have long been over.

Mr. President, the time is now. Stand up for our country and show America that you still believe what is right and what is wrong. Bring the troops home, it’s the right thing to do.

Jeanne Stapleton '07'
Wilkes University
Communications Studies