I take issue with Robert Myers’ letter “Politically correct war” (BDN, Aug. 8), which states that we failed to employ the full power of our military to crush resistance at the outset of the war because we feared the watchful eye of a critical press.

Former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld was responsible for the inadequate number of troops in Iraq. He touted the idea of a small, mobile tactical force to handle trouble spots around the world. This was obviously wrong for Iraq. At the time, one of our top generals recommended a large force for the invasion of Iraq, but he was forced to retire.

Also, our troops went into Iraq with insufficient armor (tanks and armored vehicles). Again, this was the fault of Rumsfeld and the Pentagon. Troops need sufficient armor in the field. The thin-skinned Humvees in Iraq are vulnerable to roadside bombs that penetrate the vehicle’s skin and kill or wound our troops.

Whether we pull our troops out of Iraq next month or five years from now, that country will still fall apart, in my opinion. Iraq is a fragmented and artificial country. Before World War I, under the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire, the area that is now Iraq consisted of the three provinces of Mosul, Baghdad and Basra. During the war, British troops took those provinces from the Ottoman Empire, which had sided with Germany and, of course, lost.

In 1920, the British cobbled the three provinces into one country and then named it Iraq. In 1919, the people who inhabited those provinces were not called Iraqis. History, geography and religion pulled the people apart.

Richard W. Sykes

Rockland