'Ideal-less' country doomed to suffer

In Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan our on-the-ground conflict in Asia is an unwinnable long slog that ought to be intolerable to the American people. According to Defense Secretary Robert Gates, "The troops are tired; the American people are pretty tired."

Indeed. We ought not feel obligated to waste trillions of dollars pursuing Bush's idiotic wars. By simply refusing to purchase more F-22s (unwanted by Gates) we could put the billions saved, from just this one program alone, into health-care or job programs or keeping ordinary citizens in their homes.

As individuals we are experiencing desperate financial straits - lack of employment and home foreclosures with a health system threatening to break down under needless economic stress.

The real enemy of the American people is the system that allows our elected officials to be bought off by corporate lobbyists - war contractors, armament and weapons manufacturers and industrialists; heath-care lobbyists and insurance companies; Wall Street, banking and financial institutions as well. Corrupt congressmen and legislators who sell out the interests and well being of ordinary American citizens to feed their re-election campaigns are very much our enemies.

For God's sake, for America's sake, our own sake let's put aside our narrow self-interest, our avarice and greed, our political squabbling and implement policies based on common sense and justice. We must attend and care for the Commonwealth. An ideal-less country is a country doomed to suffer needlessly.

Marion J. Reis

Wheaton