Rep. Sweeney still supports Bush's war

In today's Post Star, a moving letter to the editor:

Today, remembering the nearly 3,000 people killed in the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, I realized that within months the Americans dead in Iraq will exceed that number. That total doesn't even approach the more than 30,000 Iraqi civilians who have died in the terrible battleground their country has become. Most Americans now understand that President Bush's war has proved a colossal, tragic mistake, one with no end in sight.

But Congressman John Sweeney still doesn't understand. He has enthusiastically supported Mr. Bush's war and its ruin of our economy. He has followed the Republican Congress in cutting domestic programs and plunging our children's generation deep into debt, funneling billions to the war, while 47 million Americans have no health insurance. He has forced ordinary Americans to make sacrifices for Iraq, but he has rewarded corporations and the wealthy with tax breaks. The blunder in Iraq is not just Mr. Bush's but Mr. Sweeney's as well, and it hurts us all.

This November we can send new leaders to Washington to start reversing the damage. I'm supporting Kirsten Gillibrand, Mr. Sweeney's opponent in New York's 20th Congressional District. Gillibrand has the intelligence, the energy, the dedication, and the integrity to help start correcting the errors of Mr. Bush and Mr. Sweeney's regime. She will help restore our priorities, making America secure at home rather than despised and endangered abroad. By electing Kirsten Gillibrand to Congress, we can help take back our country.

JAY ROGOFF

Saratoga Springs