I Fisk Diane Feinstein's reply to my letter

Below is a response to my letter to Diane Feinstein. My snarky comments are in Bold.

Dear Mr. Meaker:

Thank you for your letter concerning the situation in Iraq. I appreciate hearing your views on this important issue.

I am deeply concerned about our Iraq strategy. President Bush sent our military into Iraq using faulty intelligence...

Earth to Diane F. Intelligence is always faulty. The fact is, we went in before sanctions broke down completely, before Saddam was able to reconstitute his WMD programs. We, rather cleverly, fought them before they were ready. That is better than waiting until our soldiers could be killed in tens of thousands by mustard gas, and nerve gas. The Senate was right to vote to authorize War. The Administration was right to go in, knock out the Saddam government, and then make war against any and all terrorists who came. Every terrorist killed or scared off in Iraq will not attack disarmed civilians in the US.

and inadequate planning. The Administration has consistently ignored the advice of high-ranking military commanders, our allies around the world...

The Administration has consistantly selected carefully from the best advice of the best commanders. Results speak for themselves. A country of more than 20 million is conquered, occupied, and civilian government is reconstituted despite no recent democratic experience. Significant parts of Iraq are now being run by Iraqis. Larger areas are being run by Iraqis with the US in support. The terrorists to include Baath holdouts, are on the run all over Iraq. Al Queda in Iraq are currently on their fourth "capital" in Iraq. The Administration ignored the advice of the French government, which had been suborned by Saddam. What world leader would you have us follow? George Galloway, the corrupt? Abscam Murtha? Cold Cash Jefferson? Please, don't embarass yourself.

, Congressional leaders on both sides of the aisle, and the Iraq Study Group by refusing to acknowledge that there is no military solution to the problems plaguing Iraq.

Every terrorist killed is a military solution. Saddam's sons killed are a military solution. Every tribal leader in Anbar province who shifts his allegience from Al Queda to the Iraqi government is a military solution. The place where there is no military solution is the US Senate. Really, you must get out more.

Conditions in Iraq continue to deteriorate by the day,...

Conditions in Iraq improve by the day. Although the Iraqi parliment has its shortcomings, you perhaps have some understanding of how a minority can stymie majority desires in a democracy. So far the Iraqi government has come! Certainly under Saddam there was no such ability to thwart the corrupt Ba'ath government.

with an increasing number of U.S. troops and thousands of Iraqi civilians killed monthly in horrific violence.

I would be amazed if fewer US troops and Iraqi civilians were killed monthly, as that would require resurrection from the dead.

Our troops find themselves caught in the midst of a complex civil war.

By the definition of Civil war, no such thing is happening. The terrorists are mostly from outside Iraq. That is no kind of Civil War.

This sectarian conflict cannot be solved by military intervention but only by the Iraqi leadership taking tough political actions to stem long standing grievances and hatred between Sunnis and Shi'as.

This is not a sectarian conflict. Though Sunni Al Queda murder Shia, they also murder Christians in US forces, Sunni Kurds, and Sunni government personnel. Shia in Iran support Sunni terrorists in Iraq to make trouble for the US. In the US, I have learned to be glad for each day the Legislature does not pass bad law. I don't think we should have much higher standards for the legislature of the new government of Iraq.

To date, more than 3,400 of our brave men and women in uniform have lost their lives and over 26,000 have been injured; tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians have been brutally murdered. The current situation is simply unsustainable.

In 4 years we have lost less than a single day of WWII, when the US had half the population of today. They have not "lost their lives", they have been killed in action, mostly by illegal combatants who also murder women, children, and non-combatants. We must not let such tactics defeat us, or our enemies, foreign and domestic, will increasingly use such methods against us.

For this reason, I joined my colleagues in the United States Senate in supporting a provision in the fiscal year 2007 Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill, to require the President to begin a phased redeployment of our combat troops from Iraq no later than 120 days after passage of the bill, with funding for combat operations ending by April 2008, except for a limited supporting force focused on training Iraqi security forces and targeting terrorists.

As you are my representitive to the US Senate, I direct you to vote for support for the troops by providing the funding, equipment, and training for them to win against our horrific enemy. I forbid you to vote for any provision to abandon our allies in Iraq to such an enemy.

I was very disappointed that the President yet again ignored the calls of the American people to bring our troops home, and chose instead to veto this bill.

I am proud of President Bush for keeping faith with our allies and our soldiers. I am pleased that he has chosen to fight the terrorists overseas, where they can not select the time and place for their attacks. I am glad the Senate authorized this action. I am disappointed that the US Senate seems too dull to remember that they too are a target for the dull knives of Al Queda.

In order to ensure that our troops have the resources they need to carry out their missions safely, improve the standards of medical treatment for wounded troops and veterans, and provide critical assistance to those affected by domestic natural disasters, the United States Congress passed a second version of the Supplemental Appropriations bill, which was signed into law by the President on May 25th.

Passing supplemental appropriations is a good idea when the US is at war.

While this bill did not include important timelines for reducing our troop levels in Iraq, I remain committed to bringing our troops home soon and will continue to work with my colleagues in the Senate to push for a political and diplomatic solution to the situation in Iraq.

As my representitive in the US Senate, I direct you to vote for bringing the troops home only after Iraq has, in the judgement of the senior military commanders on the scene, the ability to defend themselves from the terrorists, and from unfriendly nations in the area such as Iran and Syria. As my representitive to the US Senate, I forbid you to deny soldiers in Iraq funding for continuing operations.

Again, thank you for writing. For your review, I have included my most recent statement on this issue. Best regards.

Best wishes. I hope you find new and better sources of information. Your current sources are betraying you, and hope to betray the United States, our service members, and our allies. Shame on them!

Donald L. Meaker