Mr. Doerrer, your claim that Tom Vilsack has the only "real plans for change" in Iraq are a narrow minded, liberal view of foreign policy. If the troops were pulled out of Iraq at this time, it would eventually lead to the disintegration of all civility in the region.,”

Mr. Doerrer, your claim that Tom Vilsack has the only "real plans for change" in Iraq are a narrow-minded, liberal view of foreign policy. If the troops were pulled out of Iraq at this time, it would eventually lead to the disintegration of all civility in the region.

Granted that before President Bush's new Iraq policy, the country was in a stagnant state. The violence was in a constant cycle, not really diminishing or increasing. But with these new policies and new leadership under Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Gen. David Petraeus, the violence has and will continue to be curbed. The policy to increase the troop levels has given the Iraqis the needed support to again push their country into the correct direction, toward a true free, democratic state. The old troop levels were insufficient to get the job done correctly quite obviously. The increase will ensure a faster stabilization of the region and ultimately lead to our troops coming home in a more timely fashion.

If the coalition troops, headed by American forces, are vacated from Iraq prematurely, the terrorism in Iraq, the surrounding region and in our own country would increase substantially. It will show a weakness of American policy to pull out our troops hastily as Vilsack requests and the terrorists will exploit this weakness. This narrow viewpoint held by Mr. Vilsack and you, Mr. Doerrer, will make the 3,000-plus troops who bravely gave their lives seem very insignificant to the number of Americans civilians who will be lost due to the dramatic rise of terrorism.

Eirich is a sophomore in the College of Engineering.

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