We write letters to Congressman Welch:

Peter,

It has been a long time since I've written to congratulate or offer constructive criticism.  Of late I have focused on Vermont's healthcare reform, restorative justice and, you know, trying to raise an active 21-month old boy.

While I've been unsurprisingly pleased with your efforts to extricate us from the quagmire in Afghanistan, I admit to being disappointed and puzzled by your support of the President's war in Libya.

Please, don't protest that it's not a war because there are no American boots on the ground.  And don't protest it's legitimate because it has NATO and UN backing.

It's a war of choice, it's a war without support from Congress and the American people, and it's a war that is not in US interests.  It's a war that kills innocent civilians, a war that costs us treasure we need at home, and a war that has no end game.

As we approach our Independence Day, I cannot help but note what John Quincy Adams (ask your colleague Michelle Bachmann about him) said on July 4th, 190 years ago:

“America well knows that by once enlisting under other banners than her own, were they even the banners of foreign independence, she would involve herself beyond the power of extrication, in all the wars of interest and intrigue, of individual avarice, envy, and ambition, which assume the colors and usurp the standard of freedom.

The fundamental maxims of her policy would insensibly change from liberty to force…”

I entreat you to work diligently to end this war as you have our others.

ntodd