US Diary: letter to the editor about Iraq

To the NY Times Editor:
According to David Brooks's Nov. 20 column, "The Importance of Staying With Iraq," we are not now fighting in Iraq to protect ourselves from terrorists or for democracy in Iraq. We are fighting in Iraq to prevent a civil war.
Should American soldiers be asked to die or be maimed for life for an Iraqi civil war?
Perhaps the experts and military officers are correct that we can win. Except that the experts have been wrong so far, and military officers are always going to be reluctant to admit that they cannot win.
Even if we do win, what do we win, and at what cost?
How much longer must we hear the claim that we are on the verge of winning and that the enemy is in its last throes? We heard the same claim every day while we were losing soldiers in Vietnam. Are we defending America or defending the president's ego?
Melvin Farber
Silver Spring, Md.