Dear Rep. Chocola: I hope that this letter finds you well and safe from your trip to Iraq.

Actually, this letter refers to peace issues, but you do not include that in your list of issues. I would hope that you would widen the concern of government to include those issues under peace and conflict resolution, not as "part of" defense and war.

I also remain very concerned about the continued carnage in Iraq and Afghanistan. Concerning Iraq, according to this web site, http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/,

"There have been 1,382 coalition deaths, 1,236 Americans, 74 Britons, seven Bulgarians, one Dane, two Dutch, two Estonians, one Hungarian, 19 Italians, one Latvian, 13 Poles, one Salvadoran, three Slovaks, 11 Spaniards, two Thai and nine Ukrainians in the war in Iraq as of November 28, 2004." There have been an estimated 20,00-over 100,000 thousand civilian deaths. This site lists by name, background and picture if available, the names of our dead. Other sites list as best as can be done, the names of non-USA citizens.

The human cost and the financial cost of the Iraq war, which was started on false pretext, is poisoning us. We should not continue to support the war, either with our taxes or our assent.

What are you doing to bring this war to a speedy end and to halt the unnecessary killing that we and the people of Iraq are painfully enduring? I hope that you will work diligently to this end.

Sincerely yours,

Ellyn Stecker, MD