Face reality

I think former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld's resignation was long overdue. The course the president should take is to admit the war in Iraq is a quagmire and get all of the troops out as fast as possible. Bush's slogans -- "stay the course," "don't cut and run" and "mission accomplished" -- are worn out. Do they help the 3,000 young lives sacrificed in a super blunder. As U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., said, "It's the wrong place, it's the wrong time and the wrong war." Former anti-terror adviser Richard E. Clarke said in his book that on Sept. 12, 2001, the president called a Cabinet meeting and the first thing he said was "Let's attack Iraq." Clarke later quit in amazement. Osama bin Laden was running all over Afghanistan and Bush wanted to introduce democracy into Iraq. The Middle East countries have been living under monarchies for five centuries and now the president wants to jam democracy down their throats. The situation in Iraq is utter chaos. Religious civil war reigns. The more turmoil the Shiites, Sunnis and Kurds create, the more they want to put on the onus of the U.S. presence there. The United States is not prepared there, using the National Guard and Reserve troops. Leave now. We gave no solution to the Iraqi people. Charles W. Miller, Jr., Mount Ephraim - Courier Post, December 29, 2006