After reading John Wagg’s letter in the Jan. 16 issue, I realized one of the big lies told or alluded to by the Bush administration will probably be accepted as truth for some despite all evidence to the contrary and the administration’s denying ever even hinting at it, let alone trying to convince our citizens it was true.

The lie: Iraq was responsible for attacking us on Sept. 11 so we had to invade them to keep it from happening again.

The person behind the Sept. 11 attacks is still free to spew his hatred to all his fanatical followers, and does so frequently.

Yes, we did free Afghanistan from the Taliban and helped install a newly elected government. Unfortunately, that same government isn’t actually in control of the country and opium poppy cultivation is at an all time high. Meanwhile, our troops there continue to probe the mountains for al-Qaida with pretty much limited success.

As a retired military veteran and hardly a “liberal,” I think the reference to “Coward of the County” could be best applied to Mr. Bush, Mr. Cheney, Mr. Wolfowitz and all the others who disregarded the views of Mr. Powell, Gen. Shinseki, Gen Zinni and a host of others who were against the invasion as planned.

Of course, we acknowledge that those at the top of the administration knew more about war planning from their vast National Guard and deferment experiences.

Michael Shain, Jay