I agree with you absolutely about the terrible stagedy of how our troops are treated when they come home, and I opposed the launching of this war. However, I have to respectfully disagree with regards to the best course of action in Iraq, for a couple of reasons. The main one is that we owe both a legal responsibility, under a U.N. mandate, to help secure the country, and a moral responsibility to the Iraqi people.

That does not mean that I think we need to go on doing things the way they are. The solution in Iraq is not a military solution, but a political one. But it's not so simple that we can just pack up and leave. Over the course of the last two years I've spoken with hundreds of Iraqis and American troops about this, and while many Iraqis want us out, it is simply not true that the majority do. Eventually yes, but most Iraqis recognize that the only thing keeping their country from descending into a true civil war is the presence of U.S. troops and the slowly developing Iraqi army.

I was in Iraq in 1991, and when the Shi'ites rose up against Saddam Hussein and his government, we sat back and did nothing, and abandoned them to be massacred. While it would be the expedient thing to simply withdraw all of our troops immediately, it would not be the moral thing to do. The bottom line is that the insurgency in Iraq is a very small and very violent minority of the population, which regularly targets "soft" targets -- including children -- in order to undermine confidence in the incoming Iraqi government. Our departure might very well mean that this minority would gain ascendency in Iraq.

Things could still get very much worse in Iraq -- with or without our presence. A review of recent history of civil wars in Africa and Asia (or our own civil war for that matter) demonstrate that things could get far worse in Iraq than they are. Although there are no good choices in Iraq, and no simple choices, I do believe that the course we are recommending represents the best chance to prevent that type of true bloodbath.

We're arguing for major changes in Iraq policy. In particular, that the President make a clear statement of our intent to leave as soon as possible; restructuring the flow of money for reconstruction so that it is Iraqis making the decisions about how reconstruction proceeds and it is Iraqis who are doing the work; reshaping our military operations to protect civilians and prevent innocent loss of life; and dialogue with all Iraqi parties, including the Sunnis who are at the heart of the insurgency. I believe there is a chance, if those types of changes are made, that Iraq can come out of this as a stable and sovereign country. Abandoning the Iraqis dramatically reduces those chances.

Thanks for writing. I wonder if you would be willing to grant permission to print your email, with this response, in our weekly update and on our website? This is an issue that divides Americans as much as Iraqis and I think dialogue is the best way to address that.

Best regards,

Charles