In a letter prior to the invasion of Iraq, I pleaded for the Bush administration to take its time in looking for weapons of mass destruction as none had been found. Now, I understand that armed taxpayer-subsidized American citizens are in Iraq, being paid four to five times more than our soldiers and that they want protection supplied by our soldiers. Am I missing something? Our Maine National Guard was called up and more than 60 percent are now in the regular service in Iraq.

We preemptively struck a sovereign nation without United Nations’ sanction, and we have no plan for the coming civil unrest. Armed American cowboys are patrolling the streets of Iraq.

My guess would be that we are facing a draft after the next election in November. If I were a poor or working-class high school student, I would research the draft during the Vietnam War and make plans to spend some time in the Middle East or coming up with a plan for some kind of deferment.
State Rep. Ray Pineau, Jay