The BDN has a proud motto (“It’s what you need. To know.”), and, until recently, I’ve thought it has lived up to that motto rather well. However, I have noticed at least two letters to the editor in the BDN in the last month that have appealed to Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins to change their positions on the war in Iraq and bring the troops home.

As a daily reader of the BDN, I know that Sen. Snowe’s changed position on the war in Iraq was barely covered by the BDN, either in reporting, analysis or editorials. I want to thank Sen. Snowe, who on July 23 broke with the Bush administration and became a co-sponsor of the Levin-Reed amendment to set a binding date for initiating withdrawal of American troops from Iraq.

A press release from that date on her Web site (http://snowe.senate.gov) quotes Sen. Snowe as saying, “We have arrived at the crossroads of hope and reality, and we must now address the reality. We need to send a strong message from the United States Congress on behalf of the American people that the current strategy is unacceptable and that we must move in a different course.”

Unfortunately, the Levin-Reed amendment did not pass, but we are on the brink of a new debate, and Sen. Snowe’s continued leadership in the Senate is essential. I urge Sen. Collins to join her. It is tragic that so few members of Congress shared Rep. Tom Allen’s good judgment; he foresaw the moral, security and economic catastrophe for our nation that the invasion would create, and he voted against giving President Bush authority to invade Iraq.

Our brave soldiers are serving in a war that has made us less safe, created a ruinous national debt and distracted us from meeting major challenges (e.g., terrorism, climate change, health care). These challenges will define the rest of our lives, and we need the strongest, public-minded press and the strongest political leaders to see us through safely.

Susan H. Brawley

Orono