I urge all Maine’s representatives in Washington to vote against further funding for the Iraq war in April. I hope all Mainers will do the same.

With the recent upsurge of violence, and especially the renewed hostilities by the Mahdi army, Congress has the opportunity to recover its lost, constitutionally exclusive power to declare war, by refusing to fund that insane misadventure any longer.

The last time Congress declared war was for World War II. The U.S. has been involved in many wars since then, and they have all been illegal and unconstitutional because the executive branch expropriated the power to declare war from Congress.

The only reason the Vietnam War ended was because Congress refused to continue funding it after President Nixon was forced to resign.

Once again, only if Congress asserts its power over war can we, as a nation, stop the squandering of precious life, human resources and world goodwill in Iraq, and restore the constitutional balance of power to government without which the republic cannot survive. Nor will the U.S. set the better example of peace for other nations and future generations everywhere.

Paul Corrao, Lewiston