Thank you Maine legislators, for drafting an anti-war resolution and sending a message to Washington to urge President Bush to resolve the Iraqi threat through the United Nations.

Lately, I feel like the old philosopher, sitting in my living room wringing my hands and feeling powerless to prevent the impending doom that I fear.

Thank you, too, to Judson Duncan for his letter describing George W as a “”coward who avoided any real military service at a time when young men his age were being sent to die in Vietnam.””

How do we stop the madmen in Washington who would send our young men and women in harm’s way in a war that the whole world (except U.S. cowards and madmen) are trying to prevent? Madmen who used their daddies’ money and power to avoid being in harm’s way themselves.

I wish the world community and my friends and neighbors who oppose the coming attack on Iraq could be heard in Washington. The Maine legislators’ resolution is certainly more powerful than sitting in my living room wringing my hands. Maybe other states will follow.

Having served in the United States Navy from 1959 to 1987, I believe that I have earned the right to wish for peace this time around.

Joe Sirois, Rumford