Letter to the editor:

The US director of National Intelligence recently announced that some Al Qaida are leaving Iraq to establish cells in other nations and that Al Qaida is a growing danger. None of that is surprising. Al Qaida always had cells elsewhere; some had a role in 911. Iraq is not home to Al Qaida. Its financial base is Saudi Arabia and it operates primarily from Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Saddam Hussein kept Al Qaida out of Iraq and maintained order. With the surge, we proved that we can do the same. Al Qaida came to Iraq to engage us and will leave Iraq when we leave, or when it becomes too costly for it to stay. It was foolish to believe that using military force in Iraq could defeat Al Qaida because it won’t stay to fight to extinction. Military force can make Al Qaida leave Iraq, but then it will regroup elsewhere, as it is doing. We have killed tens of thousands in Iraq, some Al Qaida, some Iraqi insurgents who want us out of their country and even more civilians. The Iraq war has cost us dearly, the lives of nearly 4,000 troops, the health of thousands more and a dent in the treasury soon to exceed a trillion dollars. Yet, after five years of war, Al Qaida is a growing danger. The Iraq war obviously hasn’t made us safer. Our next President needs to find effective ways to counter Al Qaida. When we stop beating our head against the brick wall of the Iraq war we will not be defeated, we’ll be smart.

Michael G. Trier

Unionville, MO