Dear Rep. Chocola:

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

This is the week's report of US military deaths in Iraq. The civilian casuality record is unclear because of various difficulties in counting accurately. Here is the link from which the report came: http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/2003/iraq/forces/casualties/.

We weep for those who have died and the many more who have been injured and for our family members who are serving in the Middle East.

We vigil on the corner of Jefferson and Main in South Bend, IN every Monday from 5-6 p.m. to draw attention to our dissent to this pre-emptive, immoral war.

Mr. Bush and you tell us that we must fight for democracy in Iraq if we don't want to have to fight here in the US. We don't want to have a war here, nor do we wish to have one there in the Middle East.

The cost is obviously too high. The cost was and is and will be unnecessary. It will be paid by we citizens, our children and our grandchildren, over and over again in terms of reduced health care and reduced services.

We would like to know what you are doing to reduce the human and financial cost of this war and to keep us from the mistake of using war in the future.

Sincerely yours,

Ellyn Stecker and Peter Smith