Lieberman will keep soldiers safe

MY SON, Pfc. Cory Finnigan of the 172d Field Artillery of the United States Army National Guard, leaves this week for Iraq. Despite the natural anxieties, we are so proud of him and know he's doing the right thing.

But I am angry with President Bush, who did not level with us about how long our soldiers would have to stay in Iraq, and who now seems intent on cutting pay and benefits to our soldiers.

And I am worried about the Democratic candidates for president, who seem to be playing politics with the lives of our fighting men and women and now of my son. That is, all the Democratic candidates except one -- Joe Lieberman.

I've been impressed that Senator Lieberman put his money where his mouth was by voting for the $87 billion to support our troops and rebuild Iraq. That's a lot of money, but we owed it to our fighting men and women. While others were playing politics, Lieberman did the right thing.

And is it popular to send more men and woman overseas to fight? Maybe not, but Lieberman is the only person campaigning for president who's willing to say we may need to do that to protect the ones who are there -- because again, he puts the lives of our soldiers ahead of personal political considerations.

Not everyone believes we should have gone to war against Saddam when we did. It's never easy to send your son and daughter off to fight. But we cannot turn our backs on our troops now. Whatever our differences, we have to agree -- like Lieberman -- that our troops deserve our support. And that's why Lieberman also deserves our support in his campaign for president. He's got my vote.

Tracey Degges lives in Manchester, N.H.