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The world will cheer when we leave Iraq:

Scott Stantis portrayed Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean as a cheerleader for our defeat in Iraq. In the very same issue of The News (Dec. 9, page 5A) is a lengthy article saying the Bush administration relied largely on "evidence" about Iraq and weapons of mass destruction gotten from a man who made it up to avoid more torture from the Egyptians in whose hands we placed him for interrogation.

Why then would Stantis, or anyone, think supporting the troops means to send them into this:

A war based on faulty evidence gotten through torture.

A war that was poorly planned and botched from the beginning.

A war in which our troops haven't had adequate armor and equipment.

A war that diverted our troops, money and attention away from Osama bin Laden.

A war this administration was itching for.

A war the administration was warned could easily turn out to be the mess it is.

A war that has made us less safe because so many now despise us.

A war against a country that did not attack us on 9/11.

Stantis should get over his wrong-headed idea that supporting the troops means keeping them where they never should have been sent in the first place. If he supports the troops, he should use the power of his pen to lambaste those who got us into this fiasco.

Those like U.S. Rep. John Murtha and Dean, who support the troops and who have begun to call for an immediate withdrawal from this stupid war, know it has to be done in a safe and orderly way. When we are out of Iraq, the whole world will cheer - with good reason.

David Ashman

Pelham Hank Sanders