Dear Sen. Obama and Sen. Edwards,
Hi. I know we don’t talk much, and I’m sorry about that. I know that I ought to write to the two of you more often, but I understand that the two of you are both very busy men, with families and careers and Presidential campaigns to worry about, and I don’t like to be overbearing. And I'm often quite busy myself. But, I really feel that it is time that I took a moment to speak to the two of you about something.
You see, our nation is at war in Iraq, which I know both of you are aware of. And most Americans are very upset about this, and believe, quite rightly, that despite what President Bush and Gen. Petraeus have been saying this week, that it is going very very badly. Every source that is even slightly unbiased has said so with unanimity, from the Government Accountability Office to a group of seven non-commissioned officers from the 82nd Airborne Division in the New York Times, two of whom, Sergeant Yance Gray and Sergeant Omar Mora lost their lives there just this week. Knowing the two of you to both be exceptionally intelligent men, I’m certain that both of you knew that well before now.
Yet both of you have refrained from calling for a complete withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq before the next President comes to office, and while both of you have said the war is a mistake, you have not pointed out the most important truth. Both of you have refrained from saying that the strategy of President Bush in Iraq has failed, and that our nation has been led by the President to a disaster which we cannot fight our way out of. I do not question your motives for doing so; I am sure that each of you has your reasons, and that there are some good reasons in there.
It is a comfort to me that each of you has had in your life experiences where you have been defeated, and when you have failed. Among the hardest things in life is to admit failure or defeat, to face it and to accept that despite all your best hopes and efforts, achievements that we wanted were not made. It hurts badly to lose, but I know from bitter experience how much harder it can be to admit that you failed. I also know, from experience no less bitter, how important it can be. It hurts like tearing off a scab from your skin to say it out loud, but like with the scab, it has to be done to help the healing begin.
It will be painful for America for us to say out loud that we have failed in Iraq. It would be a soothing comfort to try and keep that inside, for us to seek for the mirage of "Peace with Honor", as we tried to in Vietnam. The three of us all know that it will be worst for the families and loved ones of the 3,774 brave men and women of our armed forces who lost their lives for, and for the 36,943 of them who have been wounded. But we know that the pain of it will affect every American. But we all also know that we will get through it, another lesson we have all learned from experience. And that when we do, we will be better off for it, and stronger, and more capable, and ready to rise to the occasion of another day.
So I hope very much that one of you will be the person to do that for our country. And I do not only hope, but I ask you and beg you and plead you to do so. And if neither my arguments nor my pleas are a good enough reason, I will give you one more.
Both of you gentlemen have a chance to be the next President of the United States. Which I know would be a great honor for you, as well as an opportunity for you to do many remarkable things for this country I know you both love and cherish a great deal. Both of you however trail another candidate, Sen. Hillary Clinton, and most polls have shown her lead over you both to remain quite steady. And even should you win the nomination, will still have to face a challenger from the Republican Party.
I believe Sen. Clinton to be a fine person and an excellent Senator. And I believe that she would be a fine President. But I believe that both of you would be superior Presidents, and that she will not answer this plea that I am sending to each of you. And I also believe that this moment, right now, and this statement that I am asking of you, is the best chance that either of you have or will ever have, to surpass Sen. Clinton, become the Democratic nominee and the next President of the United States.
In the last year, the President has said that he has heard the people’s demand for change in the war in Iraq. He has changed his Secretary of Defense and the General in command, and asked for and received the blessing of Congress to follow a different strategy that he and our armed forces believed would produce greater results. We have followed that strategy to more loss of our men and women, the expenditure of more of our treasure, and to no meaningful or lasting improvement in Iraq. This war has neither mitigated the terrorist threat against American citizens, nor brought to justice those who attacked us six years ago, and there is no sign that there is any possibility that it will result in either. It is time for us to face the truth about our mission in Iraq.
It will hurt tremendously to be the leader who says that to America. It will hurt you to say it, and every American who hears it. And when you say that, every American will hear it.
It will also be the greatest gift either of you could ever give us. And it is also the best chance either of you will ever have to be the next President of the United States. Millions of Americans will become your supporters. They will become your newest donors, your latest volunteers, the most recent members of the crowds cheering you when you speak. It is not your only chance; either of you can win without it, as I am sure many people far more sophisticated and wise at electoral politics have told you. But it is your best chance. Most Americans know already that what I am asking you to say is true. We are the majority, and none of the leading candidates has chosen to give the majority of Americans a voice. And now is the time. There will never be a better moment for either of you to speak.
Thank you very much for your time, and my best to you and to your families.
Sincerely,