The trouble I have with all the deficit hawks is not that they are wrong about the need for austerity concerning public finances. But I do have a problem with their short memories.

It seems not so long ago we opened our vault of blood and treasure to pursue a pointless, psychopathic invasion of Iraq. These payments keep coming due, and so far as I can tell we got nothing in return but infamy from that fiasco. When you finance that level of futile brutality, who is to say that other worthy societal aspirations such as universal health care and finding alternate renewable energy sources should be done on the cheap?

Paul R. Schlitz Jr., Baltimore