Recent ABC News/USA Today polls on Iraq show the vast majority of Iraqis consider life today to be less bearable than life under Saddam Hussein, and a majority (51 percent) think it acceptable to attack American troops.

We have been there for four years, and what we have wrought or unleashed is a substantial decrease in general living standards, a massive exodus of the educated middle classes, an enormous increase in violence of all sorts, sectarian, terrorist and criminal, and a growth in the vulnerability of our troops.

The conclusion, with respect to our involvement, seems pretty clear to me.

Solutions in Iraq have to be made by Iraqis, for Iraqis. They have to be political rather than military. And we can help most by redeploying our military within weeks or months and putting our tax dollars toward properly supervised reconstruction projects that employ Iraqis.

Mary Hunter, Lewiston