Need to support troops, president

To the editor:

President Bush has a clear plan for victory in Iraq. This current phase is training Iraqi forces so they can fight effectively against terrorists infiltrating their country to kill innocents along with remnants of Saddam's regime of terror. We are making tremendous progress, whether mainstream press reports it accurately or not. Iraqi forces are taking the front-line lead more and more every day with U.S. troops in a supporting role. Withdrawing from Iraq, or making major changes in our current military strategies would send a dangerous signal to our enemies and reaffirm their belief developed during the Clinton administration that America, the paper tiger, will cut and run when the going gets tough.

Please muster the courage to continue to support our troops and our president as they struggle to keep our country safe in the face of all the distractions, accusations and mudslinging by his political opponents whose rhetoric is being mimicked almost word for word by Osama and other al-Qaida leaders who pray for, work for, fight for and chant "Death to America." President Bush is pursuing a clear, determined strategy to win, not disingenuous political tricks to gain political advantage for midterm elections.

The wiretapping flap is just another ugly, dishonest and hypocritical ploy by Democrats to bring down a man they couldn't beat fairly and squarely at the polls. It's foreign-intelligence gathering the NSA is engaged in, not domestic spying as being falsely accused and erroneously reported.

JOHN McMILLEN, Sikeston, Mo.