Sen. Susan Collins deserves credit for some of her legislative activities. She supported efforts to reduce air pollution and global warming, backed energy efficiency and renewable energy, supported international family planning programs and voted for a treaty to ban chemical weapons.

Unfortunately, she made a serious error of judgment when she voted in 2002 to authorize the use of military force against Iraq. That vote was based on falsehoods and flimsy or even nonexistent evidence, yet we are still at war. More than 4,000 American soldiers have died in Iraq, thousands have been wounded and many of the wounds are both physical and psychological.

Many Iraqis have been killed and many others wounded. More than 2 million Iraqis are war refugees, many struggling to survive in degraded conditions.

Americans have turned against the war, and surveys show a majority of Iraqis want American forces withdrawn.

In the face of all this misery and opposition, Collins has steadfastly voted to finance the war, which has cost us more than half a trillion dollars to date. When coupled with President Bush’s tax cuts for wealthy Americans (which she supported), this has contributed to a huge increase in the national debt, which will harm our country far into the future.

Her actions on the war and taxes are reckless and overshadow the good things she has done. Fortunately, we have an excellent alternative. I will vote for Tom Allen, who has been against the war from the start and has a very good voting record on a wide range of issues.

Karl K. Norton

Bangor