Fighting words.

• Author: Adrian, David
• Position: LETTERS - Letter to the editor

In our June issue, we asked seven recent veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan to tell us how a Democratic presidential candidate could win their vote in 2008. The veterans' articles, which presented a wide range of political views, provoked a lively debate both inside and outside the military. Here are some of the responses we received:

While Andrew Exum's military service is commendable, he's still AWOL when it comes to politics ("Understand the War We're In"). Doesn't he know that Democrats think there isn't any war, that it's just a bumper-sticker slogan, as former Senator John Edwards put it? If there's no war, what's there to understand?

David Adrian

Medical corpsman, U.S. Army, 1966-69

Pontiac, Mich.

If you had been in Ronald Reagan's Army in 1985, by 1995 it would have looked like it was broken, due to the post-Gulf I force structure cuts. Those were the legacy of George I and Clinton/Gore, and today are at the core of the Army's problems in Iraq/Afghanistan. There are too many missions and not enough soldiers (and Marines) to perform them. I blame the Bush administration for not fixing the problem, but it was born well before they came into office. Only an active Army end strength increase of 250,000 will fix the problem--and none of the candidates running for president in 2008 have addressed anything more than the cosmetics.

LTC Doug Jorrey (Ret.)

Newcastle, Wyo.

I would take issue with Clint Douglas's characterization of his "friends on...