To the editor:

Originally, America invaded Iraq in 2003 claiming Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction. When this proved untrue, President Bush asserted we must take down the evil Saddam Hussein. So we caught and lynched Saddam, but now Bush wanted to stay to enable the Iraqis to form a democracy with free elections, which Iraq did while American troops died daily.

The new democratic Iraqi government responded to America’s spending billions and sacrificing thousands of American lives with Prime Minister Maliki informing the United States on July 7, 2008, the Iraqi government wanted America to leave Iraq or have a timetable to be gone.

If the democratic government representing the citizens of Iraq does not want us there, we should pack up and leave. Now is the time for Bush to pull our military forces out of Iraq. This is the honorable thing to do, the right thing to do and the best thing to do to for all Americans, especially military families. It is no longer a matter of “if” America leaves Iraq, but “when.”

This war for all purposes is over and done. Americans should not be in Iraq one day longer than absolutely necessary. From this day forward every American military death in Iraq will be in vain, for nothing, and directly attributable to Mr. Bush’s refusal to face reality and preference to play “cowboy.”

Curtis D. Bennett,

Lawrence