James Breen wrote: "Finish what you start. That's what my mother always taught me about life" (April 19 Letter to the Editor, 'Iraq pullout not logical'). He also compared the disastrous departure (or should we say "fleeing"?) from Vietnam with potential withdrawal from Iraq. There are obviously more parallels to be drawn between the two about the reasons we went to war (democratize people, fight the bogeyman of the times over there and not over here, military-industrial complex?), what we did while in those countries (including not only reconstruction but also rape, murder and destruction) and how much it costs us (in terms of life, money and reputation), and finally what we achieved by it (isolationism at home and shame abroad, not to mention a war memorial with too many names). 'Start what you finish' is a good motto for life. I would like to offer two other mottos to keep in mind about the Iraq war, though: 1. "If it ain't broke, don't fix it," and 2. "You broke it - you bought it."
Mary Ann Hennessey
class of 1990
Weyersheim, France
April 20
