U.S. Rep. Joe Sestak, D-7 of Edgmont, believes the war in Iraq is, as he said in a floor speech, a “tragic misadventure.” He entered the race for the 7th District of Pennsylvania facing a 19-year incumbent whom the pundits declared “safe for re-election.” At the same time he courageously stated that U.S. forces should be withdrawn from Iraq by the end of 2007.

He was told by political experts that adopting that part of his platform was equivalent to political suicide. He ended up thrashing his opponent, making one of the biggest instantaneous improvements in the quality of the Congress in history.

Over the last five months he has helped make his campaign position his party’s position and the public’s position. In his first few weeks he introduced his bill (“Enhancing America’s Security through Redeployment from Iraq Act” HR 960) to end the war and he has subsequently been a major part of the leadership for the floor debate in Congress.

Joe continues to work on his bill with the objective of bringing our troops home from Iraq by Dec. 31 of this year, with no more funding for the war. As Joe has said, “Our overall strategic security is being harmed as long as we’re in Iraq” and you “don’t double down on a bad military bet by using more troops as the president has proposed, when an increase has not worked before.”

Joe serves on three House committees and is vice chairman of one of them. He is the highest-ranking military officer ever to serve in the U.S. Congress. He has appeared frequently on national television and has led debates on the House floor. This package is unprecedented for a freshman congressman.

As Bill Clinton has said, “No one has entered the U.S. Congress more qualified than Joe Sestak” Astonishingly Joe has made an equally massive effort at home in Delaware County. He is covering the county with several meetings a day when at home (he is set to make his 10th and 11th appearances in our tiny township during the next two weeks and has taken the time to write an article on the watershed issue for our local paper).

You would think that with this record he would be immune from criticism from the liberal wing of his followers (a wing that includes me). That anyone could doubt his anti-Iraq war bona fides is almost beyond belief.

It is, however, illustrative of the difficulty in this age of sound bites in making the nuances of policy clear to the public that, when Joe made a courageous vote (along with anti-war stalwarts like U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa., and U.S. Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va.) in favor of the continued funding for our troops for the next six months via the Emergency Supplemental Bill for Iraq and Afghanistan, it evoked cries of outrage from many who have been his firmest supporters.

It also is illustrative of how one of the most incompetent and corrupt administrations in the history of our country can govern for eight years using slogans, lies and spin.

It takes little delving to see the rationale for Congressman Sestak’s vote: By the end of July 2007 there would be no money for our troops to protect themselves; no money for bullets, no money for gas to run the airplanes and vehicles.

Joe voted for the protection of our dedicated military. It will take six months to get the 140,000 troops out safely along with the thousands of U.S. citizens there, and approximately 15,000 Iraqis who would be massacred if stranded. Joe will not put the lives of our sons and daughters in danger.

The safe vote for Joe would have been to vote against the bill, but the safe vote for the troops was what he chose. Joe Sestak is a man of intellect, experience, sound judgment and immense energy. He has worked since his first day in Congress and continues to work for bringing our troops home safely by the end of the year and to cut off funding for this unjust adventure which has made our country and the world increasingly less safe. This is the only remaining U.S. leverage to force the Iraqis to assume responsibility for their nation, and to make the difficult political compromises that will stop the civil war.

Joe, a strategic thinker who can keep the big picture front and center without overlooking the details, had never deviated from this objective. He is working tirelessly for our nation and for his constituents. We should work tirelessly for him.

J. PETER JESSON

Chadds Ford