The fight over Iraq on the home front

Re “Democratic Hawk and War Veteran Wants U.S. Troops Out of Iraq Now,” Nov. 18

All this tedious political posturing can stop with a simple vote: Pull all our troops out of Iraq immediately (the Democrat plan) or stay the course (the Bush plan). The resulting positions would produce in 2006 one of the starkest electoral choices in American history. As a Bush supporter, I would welcome a fight on such terms. Something tells me elected Democrats would not.

KEN ARTINGSTALL

Glendale

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Yes, President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney misled the country into an unjustified war, but their accusation of Democratic hypocrisy also rings true. On Oct. 11, 2002, more than two dozen Democratic senators voted for war despite warnings about the quality of intelligence. They knew the case for war was weak, but they put political careers ahead of national interest. While their culpability is less than those who propagated the lies, they are nonetheless hypocrites. There are representatives who stand above both hypocrisy and culpability. Twenty-two Democratic senators and one Republican (Sen. Lincoln Chafee of Rhode Island) voted against the war. Most notable was Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) who at the time attacked the war as a fraud and accused “cowed members of the Senate” of “sheep-like behavior.” It is to these representatives we should look for leadership.

DAVID RUBENSON

Los Angeles

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President Bush now claims that many Democrats, by their vote, supported his decision to invade Iraq. This is typically misleading. Democrats voted to give the president authority to use force if necessary.

In times of threat, Americans of all parties tend to rally around and support the president. They also expect the president to be straight and exercise sound judgment. Did Bush do either?

BOB WIETING

Simi Valley

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John Murtha: Marine Corps drill instructor; Korean War veteran; Vietnam veteran; two Purple Hearts; Bronze Star; strong supporter of military causes over 30 years in the Congress.

Vice President Cheney: five deferments during Vietnam War; speaks only before conservative organizations or the military.

Who is the spineless one?

MIKE TEOBALDI

Westlake Village