Letter: Timing of troop surge is dangerous

Monday, July 9, 2007 | 7:12 a.m.

Soldiers in Iraq face their fifth summer in extreme heat that has killed dozens and sickened hundreds. Timing the troop surge to peak in late summer, when temperatures can reach 130 degrees and patrolling with 50 pounds of gear is potentially lethal, makes no sense strategically. Instead, it proves the administration's desperation to run the clock until this senseless war that few Americans support becomes the next president's problem.

Rosy assessments by the administration and hand-picked generals are belied by the facts. The surge isn't working. It has only exposed thousands more soldiers to needless death and stretched our military and National Guards to the breaking point as deployments are extended and rest intervals decreased.

While our soldiers suffer in the heat and die at an average rate of 3.5 per day in the midst of a civil war, Congress will take their August recess and the president his annual 30-day vacation. Congress has the constitutional authority and the moral imperative to mandate a responsible, safe and funded withdrawal while seeking a political solution to sectarian conflict. They can and should do so before leaving Washington this summer.

On May 2 two of Nevada's three members of the House of Representatives, Jon Porter and Dean Heller, both Republicans, rejected a plan to fully fund a phased withdrawal of American soldiers from Iraq. I call on them to meet with their constituents in a town hall setting open to all, where they can explain why they support continuing the president's reckless policies.

Teresa Crawford, Henderson