Need some LTTE help on Iraq

I'm responding to another letter, which I'll post below. I need to shorten it a bit, I think.
>>>
Harold Harris is correct that our Iraq policy is a success. Unfortunately, it has been a success for Osama bin Laden. For America, it has been a disaster.

We invaded Iraq because President Bush claimed it was a mortal, grave, immediate and urgent threat. In his 2003 State of the Union speech, Bush spoke of “500 tons (one million pounds) of sarin, mustard and VX nerve agent,” and “upwards of 30,000 munitions capable of delivering chemical agents.” He also mentioned 25,000 liters of anthrax and 38,000 of botulism toxin. Disgraced ex-Defense Secretary Rumsfeld even claimed to know where they were.

To date, none of those weapons have been found.

We were also told we would be greeted as liberators. Yet, over three and a half years after the invasion, we are rapidly approaching 50,000 American casualties in Iraq, Baghdad is a city under siege and our occupation of Iraq has made us less safe, according to our intelligence agencies.

We were also told we could measure our time in Iraq in weeks, yet we are now approaching 200 weeks and Bush intends to pass Iraq onto the next administration.

We were also told by senior White House official Andrew Natsios that Iraq would cost $1.7 billion. Natsios, also of Big Dig fame, is wrong in his calculation by a factor of about 1,000, as we are now told Iraq will cost us upwards of $2 trillion.

If Osama bin Laden’s plan was to have a recruiting bonanza while simultaneously getting America to disgrace its international reputation, bankrupt its treasury and stretch its military too thin, he can certainly declare, “mission accomplished.”
<<<

here is the "divorced from reality" letter I'm responding to...

Major Milestones Achieved In Iraq

In response to Frank Harris III's Other Opinion article "How Can We Win The War?" :

Our policy in Iraq is a success. All the major milestones have been achieved. Saddam Hussein was removed from power and tried for his crimes against humanity. His ability to obtain weapons of mass destruction has been terminated. An interim government was established and authority was transferred to it. Iraqi elections where held on schedule. The elected officials organized their government and are now taking on more of the responsibility of running their country.

There were naysayers all along the way, insisting that each milestone would be missed. These naysayers included some of the same retired generals and politicians who call this a "failed policy." It was predicted that we would suffer 50,000 casualties in the takeover of Baghdad. Countless such predictions have been proved false. But that does not stop critics from continuing to predict failure and exaggerate our setbacks.

Our enemies and the opponents of the war call this a "failed policy." The policy will fail if it continues to be undermined by people who want the policy to fail for their personal gain and by those who are misled into parroting: "Failed policy." "Failed policy."

The war on terror is in the first few minutes of the first quarter of the first game of the season. To win, we must tout our successes, learn from our setbacks and not predict failure.

Harold S. Harris

Glastonbury

http://www.courant.com/news/opinion/letters/hc-lets1108.artnov08,0,4814347.story?page=2&coll=hc-headlines-letters

thanks

did my letter suck that bad?

I guess it did suck

Maybe add that comparing the Iraq war to a game is sick, and shows the original writer has a death fetish.

next thing, they'll compare it to a video game.