I am disheartened by the mainstream media’s coverage of the recent debate over the Iraq war. When Americans tune in to network news stations and open newspapers such as the Sun Journal, they get the impression that the war in Iraq is a major setback for the Republican Party. I, for one, am willing to take on that lie.

It is obvious to everyone that Rep. John Murtha’s call for immediate withdrawal from Iraq was merely a political stunt, designed to excite liberal activists and newsmen. But what has yet to be seen is an alternative from the left. Their consistent attacks are masking the fact that many Democrats, including Hillary Clinton, Bill Clinton, Howard Dean, Nancy Pelosi, Joe Biden, Harry Reid and many others, read much of the same intelligence as the president and came to the same conclusion: Iraq was a threat.

So when the war in Iraq was taken up in Congress recently, I listened carefully and waited to hear an alternative from the Democrats. Sadly, their rhetoric was not enough to mask their true motives: scoring points in the political arena. It’s inexcusable that politicians on the left are willing to undermine the heroic actions of our brave men and women in order to get re-elected.

If the Democrats have a plan, I’m still waiting to hear it.

Oh, I forgot. You can’t fight substance with empty attacks.

Brent Bowen, Lewiston