Troops deserve stronger support

To the editor:

Events over the last several weeks in Iraq show a bad situation getting worse. It is time to face the fact that a substantial troop increase is needed to pacify the country to a degree that allows legitimate elections to be held. Elections are scheduled for January, but it is unlikely they will go forward.

The United States has assumed responsibility for making Iraq secure, and there are not enough troops there to do the job. I'd rather not hear someone in the Pentagon say all the field commanders have to do is ask. I think we all know better than that. If our boys haven't gotten a handle on the situation by now, it's because they are even more outnumbered than we first thought -- outnumbered and making the best of a bad situation with their heads up and their mouths closed.

I hate to question the president's commitment to the Iraqi mission, but now is not the time to retreat into election mode. If the decision to reinforce were to come tomorrow, it would still take a month to get the men into place, and that would be another month of increasing chaos. Washington should give our boys whatever is necessary to win this war, and our leaders should decide to fully commit or pull out. That lesson should already have been learned.

MIKE PATTERSON, Sikeston, Mo.