Two million people are dying of cold, hunger, and tetanus for lack of helicopters and cheap vaccines in Asia and Central America. Thousands of US citizens are stranded in Cancun 5 days after Hurricane Wilma. A new storm will hit Nicaragua, not yet recovered from Hurricane Mitch in l998. Meanwhile, the USA continues to spend wildly for war in Iraq/Afghanistan. Currently it has cost the people of Indiana over 3.8 billion and South Bend over 52.5 million for the Iraq war.

There is no better time than right now to pull out of Iraq/Afghanistan. We have a good excuse, i.e., there are just more urgent things to do. President Bush would not have to admit error. The Iraqi people would have a good chance to rise to the occasion of making for themselves a free government. We could bring our troops home or assign them and military resources to life-saving work in areas of natural disaster in the US or abroad. We could reduce federal taxes without increasing the deficit and without raising state and local property taxes.

Today, Friday, the United Nations is pleading for more aid for the victims of the recent earthquakes. There is nothing in the news or on the government websites to suggest that our government is listening. We are asking you to take a fresh look at the option of troop withdrawal now and to advise the president to change course for more humane use of our tax dollars.

The death toll in Iraq continues to rise. How many more?

Sincerely yours,

Ellyn Stecker and Peter Smith for the Michiana Peace and Justice Coalition