Where do we go from here?

My letter to Senator Susan Collins:

Ms. Collins,
I just read your report after your return from Iraq and Afghanistan, which I eagerly anticipated. I was glad to hear that you do not support sending more troops. I've always felt from day one (September 12, 2001) that we would need to work with the government that was in place in order to bring the perpetrators to justice. My wife Vicky worked in the World Trade Center in 1993 when it was bombed and we moved to Maine in 1994. I lost a friend who was a NYC fireman in that same building in 2001. I remember the Taliban saying that they would bring Osama Bin Laden forth if we would agree to have him tried in their country. George Bush was not willing to compromise or bargain. I feel that much in terms of world sympathy and opportunity was foolishly thrown away very early on.

You have now seen first hand that opium production has increased in Afghanistan. I understood that the Taliban had at least kept that in control. I was never a fan of the Taliban or Saddam Hussein. Who could be in contemporary society? The question remains now what to do? We have undermined our own ability to work with governments by choosing a policy destroying them first. How can we be taken seriously when we say we want to work with a government after this?

In 2003 George Bush challenged those tempted to attack U.S. forces by saying "Bring them on". My question to you is what was your reaction back then and how do you feel about that challenge now?