Don’t base vote on single issue

Published 9:00 pm Wednesday, August 16, 2006

The voters of Connecticut have demonstrated a foolish naivete I am concerned will be repeated numerous more times across this country in the coming months. They decided to remove a senator who not only had served them well and developed political clout in Washington, D.C., but one who also had been a highly respected vice-presidential candidate not so long ago. Not only this, but they have chosen to replace him with someone with virtually no political experience. Why? Simply because of his anti-Iraq war stance. Beyond this, how will he serve (read understand) the complex issues that would involve not only the state of Connecticut, but the rest of the country? Sure, it is easy to be against the war at this point. Things are not going well and our military is paying the price. Yet, we need to consider the long range outcomes of our short term thinking. Pulling our troops out of Iraq before there is more stability in the country is not in the best interest of the Iraqis nor of the U.S. What if the outcome of the current civil conflict is a government that is even more “hostile” to the U.S. than that of Saddam Hussein?

If the terrorists interpret our pullout as a sign of weakness and giving up, their attacks on our country will only increase. So before we all go out and vote against anyone who isn’t firmly against the war, let us consider the long term costs of our short term decisions.

Jerry L. Brady

Lake Stevens