Although I normally try to step around the piles of misinformation routinely dropped by left-wing zealots such as David Chirayath, his latest letter (April 20) is so naively simplistic and devoid of logic that one must assume he either has no understanding of international relations, or that he derives his view of world affairs from the same little green men who showed former Democratic presidential candidate Dennis Kucinich their space car.

Mr. Chirayath uses the yearly cost, in both military spending and troop casualties, and then simply multiplies these figures by “100 years” to calculate the purported total cost of this war if Sen. John McCain were elected president.

This is akin to looking at the peak cost of yearly military spending during World War II and considering it an ongoing war, simply because at least one soldier remains stationed in Germany, Japan, South Korea, Italy, Bosnia, etc. The United States routinely maintains bases around the globe to ensure a political presence in potentially volatile regions. However, we are – of course – not still considered “at war” in these countries, which is what Mr. Chirayath is arguing would continue to exist in Iraq so long as a single soldier remained.

While Mr. Chirayath then goes onto suggest that anyone voting for McCain should be forced to enlist in the military, I would likewise suggest that anyone voting like Mr. Chirayath should consider donating that spine they are no longer using to science.

Robert D. Beauchesne, Lewiston