Hagel criticism on right track

I read with happiness the recent comments of Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb.: "We better be damn sure we know what we're doing, all of us, before we put 22,000 more Americans into that grinder."

Yes, the senator is absolutely right and from the bottom of my heart I wanted to thank him not only for his courageous comments but for putting America and American lives above partisan party lines. Our policy in Iraq has been nothing but a disaster, and it is time for this administration to admit it and find a real and a practical way out of this mess.

Sending more troops not only puts more American lives at risk abroad but at home as well.

As the Associated Press reported, the head of the National Guard said that his troops lack the necessary equipment, which will hurt the Guard troops' ability to respond to natural or man-made disasters at home. Gen. Steven Blum stated, "It creates a problem. It will cost us time, and time will translate into lives."

Gen. Peter Schoomaker, the Army chief of staff, and Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, said the buildup is putting more pressure on the military, and that the response to crisis elsewhere probably would be slower and more risky.

Once again, thank you Sen. Hagel for your most needed leadership and for your courage. As a concerned American I beg you to run for president in 2008.

Hesham Mahmoud, Rutherford