Dear John:

I watched your performance in the Presidential debate this Friday past.
It struck me that you are still having trouble understanding the simple
problem that is the war on Iraq. Senator, I have thought long and hard
to find a way to explain the problem to you. What can I write to
enlighten you? What you need is an analogy! What you need is an example
that will help to explain the situation. I hope this will help.

Senator, let's imagine that while you are looking for a restroom you
have a momentary lapse of attention. A lapse such as this could happen
to anyone. The longer one lives the more likely that such a lapse will
occur. Imagine this lapse finds you in a restroom designated for the
use of the opposite gender. You have stumbled into the women's restroom.

Senator, should this ever happen to you, please apply the following
suggestions. In this case of mistaken-toilet identity, you should
not complete the mission. It is no shame to admit your mistake and
leave. In fact, leaving is the good and proper thing to do. Should you
become aware of your mistake in the middle of completing your "mission"
I suggest that you, er, put your gun away and exit. Do not "surge" in
an effort to complete the "mission". Leave as soon as you can. A
struggle to "win", to finish the job under these awkward circumstances,
ignores a vital detail - you are in the wrong toilet.

Should you choose to do the right thing and exit, remember, it's okay
to be embraced. Being embraced is nature's way of putting emphasis upon
a lesson learned. We all make mistakes. Some make more than their fair
share, but that's life. You'd risk shame, however, if you insisted on
staying where you shouldn't be. Under these circumstances "mission
accomplished" is no victory.

Do you understand, Senator? We, the United States, should never have
entered Iraq. Staying where we should never have been in the first
place is not heroic. We are not welcome in Iraq. The rightful occupants
of Iraq wish us to leave. We should leave. We, as a nation, need to get
out.

I hope this analogy has helped you understand why your position on Iraq is, well, flawed.