To the editor:

I would respectfully disagree with Mr. Rubis’ letter of March 22. I believe perpetuating an error committed five years ago only continues to compound the problem. The CIA, before the invasion, informed the Bush administration they had no evidence linking al-Qaida to Iraq and was ignored. Therefore, the natural deduction is the invasion opened the door for al-Qaida and we are responsible.

So here we are five years after “mission accomplished,” 4,000 dead Americans, no weapons of mass destruction, a trillion-dollar debt and a deeper recession. The Arab world sees our continued occupation as no intention of leaving and provides al-Qaida with a fine recruitment tool. Remember perception of the truth is often more important than the truth.

Unlike Mr. Rubis, I see an organized withdrawal as helping our negative world perception especially with the Muslim world and Europe. As far as his statement that withdrawal would dishonor Americans who died, does that sound familiar? Sounds like what we heard about withdrawing from Vietnam where 58,000 Americans and a million Vietnamese died after eight years.

Also, no one is talking about how we are going to pay for this never-ending war, with recession, unemployment and many cuts in social programs. This country is being driven into bankruptcy. We have restored democracy in Iraq and we have been very altruistic, but charity begins at home, and it is time Iraq stood on its own and for our government to start paying more attention to its own citizens!

Craig Tucker

Judy Northway,

Lawrence