To the editor:

Once again, we are about to tackle the remake of a room in our modest 1920s home. Experience has shown that it is a long and messy process: removing the old finish, pulling up carpeting, stripping wallpaper and woodwork, sanding. Then, there is the refinishing: painting, repair work on windows and walls, ceiling work, new carpeting and wallpaper. These things take time, and there are always glitches and more expense than first estimated. But when the going gets tough or messy, it is inconceivable to leave the job unfinished.

Planning this undertaking led me to contemplate the criticisms of the war on terror. It is impossible to plan for every scenario in a remodeling project; so too with a war. But when there are setbacks, we don’t “cut and run.” Some say that the war in Iraq is diverting attention from the war on terror. If you learn that some bad electrical wiring needs to be replaced while redoing the room, does that mean you are diverting attention from the remodeling project? Preventing potential problems from surfacing later is clearly the best choice, even if it comes with a price.

In a recent letter to the editor, a Saturday war protester stated that he did this in part so that his grandson would not have to go to war. My nonagenarian father’s grandson just returned from a year serving in the U.S. Army southwest of Baghdad so that none of our grandsons and granddaughters will have to deal with radical Islamic terrorists in the future.

Nancy Keel,

Lawrence