No choice but to press on in Iraq

I DON'T like the role of warmonger, but I have to speak. Our nation is considering withdrawal of troops from Iraq. I know that many of us would like to see peace. We have had enough death and destruction, and we want to move on to other issues such as the environment, energy independence, and our trade deficit. But right now peace is not an option. We must solve the Iraq issue, and we must do it without bending to Syria and Iran.

I say this as a Democrat, as a person who detests war, and as one who opposed the initial invasion of Iraq. We can't leave. Actually, I agree with Senator John McCain that we must consider sending more troops to Iraq. We must do everything possible to win, because our bridge back to peace has already been burned.

I hate to say this, but I firmly believe that the only path to security in the world is an aggressive move forward in Iraq . We can't leave Iran running the table .

DAVID JARVIS
Londonderry, N.H.