To the editor:

Sen. Pat Roberts has turned from representing Kansas to the nation and is, instead, representing the Bush administration and its practices to us. He has voted against outlawing torture. In his role on the Senate Intelligence Committee, he has stalled in providing clear answers about the intelligence used to begin a war. This is not about governance, but rather, the continuation of rule over citizens, not the rule that represents citizens.

Sen. Roberts complained that this closed-door session was a personal attack. While he is free to interpret that it is about him, for many of us, this is about something much larger and more important than even one senator. What kind of country are we becoming? How do we account for the sorrow that has visited not only the families of the 2,035-plus families who have lost a family member, but also the families of more than 10,000 wounded, many of them with grave and lifelong wounds? How do we account for the 25,000 to 35,000 Iraqis who have been killed and the sorrows of their families? This is not about Sen. Roberts; this is about what kind of people we are.

On a plane flight last week, the woman in front of me was flying to a memorial service for her brother, who was killed in Iraq. I believe he had the most honorable intentions in his intent to serve his country. Were those matched by honorable intentions of the leaders of the rush to war?

Ellen Kroeker,

Lawrence