So I would like to know what is the measurement for victory in Iraq? What will it take to stop the occupation?

Al-Qaida is not going to surrender to us. The civil war and the violence will not go away as long as we are there. Last month was one of the deadliest months for U.S. troops again. We deserve to know the final benchmark before we sacrifice any more of our troops.

What I believe is there is no plan to stop the occupation as long as we get oil for 25 cents on the dollar and have a foothold in the Middle East. I think the American people are getting very complacent when they should be getting very angry.

Are we waiting around for the elections in 2008 to sort this out? By then, we will have lost another thousand troops and destroyed thousands and thousands of lives.

As I see it, the only winners are the big oil companies and Halliburton so far. I would like to see our elected officials take a stand against this nonsense even if they can't override a veto.

John Madigan,
Bellvue

originally published in the Fort Collins Coloradoan