An Open Letter to Senator Chuck Hagel

Dear Mr. Hagel,
I just watched your comments on the Iraq resolution on 01.24.07. As a matter arising from the aforementioned broadcast, I want to offer my sincerest thanks: thank you, sir, for being a man of conscience and conviction. You see, I and many other people around the world are having a great deal of trouble holding in our negative emotions over the warrant-less deaths and war-crime grade atrocities your country is currently committing in Iraq. 
Hearing you speak tonight took me back: your tone reminded me of the earthiness and openness that once attracted me to your culture and your people. Growing up in Britain in the 1970's, we siphoned off a lot of American culture from our T.V. sets. I wince now, but a lot of us wanted to drive Ford Torinos like the Dukes of Hazard; indeed, many of my friends and I wanted to visit the United States as it seemed, ultimately, a dynamic and exciting culture. 
Your country was born of a powerful vision - a republic that served a model to the whole world; a beacon of democracy (when my own country was shackled to the colonialist whims of a dubious, deleterious monarchy.) 
Thank you again. My admiration for you is overwhelming. At this dark time in your nation's history, your words contain even more strength and poignancy. They contribute to restoring the humanitarian vision of your founding fathers. 
Yours respectfully, Neil Westlake 
Vancouver, Canada