U.S. Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada, an eloquent and exceedingly courageous young man refused to be deployed to Iraq. Not surprisingly, a military judge ruled that the Army lieutenant cannot base his court-martial defense on the war's legality. If he had ruled otherwise, think of what a precedence this would set in bringing true democracy to this nation of heightened language, but very limited and circumspect moral principles.

It is patently obvious that this war has been a disaster resulting in the deaths of over 3,000 U.S. soldiers, tens of thousands of American casualties and over one-half million Iraqi civilian dead. The evidence is insurmountable in supporting Lt. Watada's claim that the war is illegal and the conduct of the war immoral. We now find ourselves at the brink of a possible and terribly calamitous wider war in the Middle East on account of a crazed, irrational and pathological presidency.

_The question here is will the Congress take upon itself its essential duty and obligation to serve this nation and its people, or will it continue to speak without action, endure without backbone and be a casual onlooker as this nation sinks into the abyss of a horrific moral crisis.

Joseph Aprile

Westwood