President Bush is quoted as saying, in response to Iraqi attacks on our military, “My answer is bring them on. We’ve got the force necessary to deal with the security situation.”

This is reminiscent of a comment by Holland M. Smith, a Marine Corps general safely aboard ship at the battle for Iwo Jima: “We’ll take this island if it takes the whole Marine Corps.” We called him “Howling Mad Smith.” Of those who landed on Iwo Jima, about one out of three were killed or wounded. But for the Navajo code talkers, many more would have been wounded or killed.

Is the president expressing the same disregard for the men and women serving in Iraq as he has for veterans seeking medical care?

Don Pilcher

Orono