Polls, politics and impatience

To the Editor: How many times does this nation have to learn the hard lesson that you cannot win a war by using polls, politics and sound bites to determine strategy? The War on Terror is being waged against a determined enemy from several nations. Evidence shows that Iran and other freedom-hating nations are contributing to the instability to defeat democracy. Regional wars can be long affairs that have to outlast calls for premature pull outs. You cannot measure the length of this war against other wars. You cannot superimpose a victory plan from a past war to this one. As we fight, we are trying to minimize innocent deaths and preserve Iraq’s infrastructure, which slows down progress. Thanks to coalition forces, Iraq has a more promising future without Saddam Hussein’s torture chambers and his sons waiting in the wings. Many thousands of Iraqi’s voted in the nation’s first democratic elections. And fighting evil and terrorism abroad has kept our nation without a large scale terrorist event since the war started. Politicians who broadcast potential troop deployment and withdrawal plans, trash the troop’s mission and boost the enemy’s resolve are acting shamefully; in World War II, they called it treason. My son served tours in Iraq and Afghanistan with the Army. Both he and I believe that freedom must be defended staunchly. America must do everything it can to take the fight to those who plot against our citizens. We cannot cut and run because we’re tired of a tough battle — especially a nation that tells the rest of the world that freedom is the only way to live. If we do, the cause of freedom itself will suffer. John B. Getz., Jr. Vietnam Veteran & PA VFW State Commander Reinholds, Pa.