Sorrow mixed with anger and frustration as I read "Mechanicville pays respects to hometown hero," Dec. 11, about the body of Anthony Denier being returned to his Mechanicville family.
How many more American bodies will be sent home in flag-draped boxes before President Obama and Congress come to their senses and bring all armed forces home from Afghanistan? When will Washington realize Afghanistan's reputation as the graveyard of empires is not the figment of some slogan writer's imagination?
We've spent, according to The New York Times, "upward of $500 billion" on this war. More than 11,000 Afghan civilians have been maimed or killed since 2007 (when the United Nations began reporting on civilian casualties), and more than 2,000 young Americans have come home in boxes while thousands more have been wounded in body and mind.
To bring Pete Seeger's words up to date, we're "waist-deep" in this "Big Muddy" and the big fools say to push on. Isn't it time we push back and demand Washington bring home American troops now?
PAUL REHM
Greenville