Letter to the Editor - AJC

Letters from the sane side of my red state:

War in Iraq: Bush, end this travesty

After reading that President Bush is experiencing a marked decline in support of his invasion of Iraq, one can only hope that his advisers sit him down and explain things on a level he might comprehend. There was a time when his limited intelligence was a source of humor, but the loss of more than 1,800 American lives rids Bush and his reckless policies of any humor.

I hope Sen. Bill Frist's opposite stance on stem-cell research will be followed by a Republican movement toward some semblance of a rational foreign policy. We are indisputably not wanted by the Iraqis. We should pray and call on our representatives to do whatever it takes to end this travesty. We are losing America's finest every day.

Gov. Sonny Perdue's tears over the loss of Georgia citizen-soldiers was powerful. Keep the momentum. While Bush enjoyed his Crawford ranch, many Georgia families prepared for funerals. It isn't right.

TOMMY CHAPMAN, Macon


Victory for the U.S. not in the cards

We would fare better if our foreign policy were left to expert poker players, who make decisions based upon facts and realities rather than on wishes and blind hope. A poker expert, realizing that the hand is lost, would fold on the Iraq war and cut his losses. He would see that his opponent has the best cards in a hand he improves with every draw. Staying with a losing hand is a waste of lives and money.

Whether you call them defenders or an insurgency, they are controlling the war while we struggle with force protection. As we take more casualties, they grow stronger. Our troop strength numbers are inadequate as their numbers grow. They are becoming more organized and more sophisticated with their tactics, and we lose our fighting forces and expensive equipment to bombs made in backyard shops. Their support comes from neighboring nations, as we are unable to seal their borders.

You cannot bluff an opponent who knows he has the cards. It is time to throw this one in and wait for the next deal.

ART HURT, Atlanta


To raise voter turnout ditch Electoral College

Attempting to get everyone to the polls on a single weekday is only part of the reason why more people do not vote ("Elections on weekend would aid democracy," @issue, Aug. 6). There's also the Electoral College.

Any "blue" person living in a "red" state feels disenfranchised. Eliminating the Electoral College would equalize the system and eliminate focusing on a single state (e.g., Florida in 2000 and Ohio in 2004) to decide a winner.

Discarding this system would make me feel as though my vote counts and that I haven't wasted my time and effort at the polls.

ESTHER K. DROEGE, Doraville

I've been an advocate of abolishing the Electoral College for years. Even before the GOP stole their first election. -John