From a letter to the Napqa Valley Register:

"...It was reported in the news that President Bush was horrified when he learned of the shooting on the Virginia Tech campus that took 32 lives.

Why the horror, George? Under your "democracy at the end of a gun" guidance, massacres like that have been occurring daily for the past five years in Iraq.

I just started reading a new book from the library, "The Deserter's Tale" by Joshua Key, the story of an American soldier who walked away from the war in Iraq. Key enlisted in the U.S. Army in 2002 and went to Iraq with the 3rd Armed Calvary Regiment. In the book, Key relates the war he found himself participating in was not the campaign against terrorists he had expected. Instead, he saw Iraqi citizens beaten, shot and killed or maimed for little or no provocation. Nearly every other night, he participated in destructive raids on homes he was told were harboring terrorists — never finding evidence of terrorist activity. When he returned home on leave, Key knew he could never return to Iraq, so he went into hiding and eventually sought asylum in Canada (A total of 3,196 active-duty soldiers deserted from the U.S. Army in 2006).

Support our troops — bring them home now! And impeach the pompous, irresponsible, fascist-minded simpleton in the White House!"

Al Cardwell / Napa