Editor,

A new TV ad from my organization, Americans United for Change, shines a somewhat uncomfortable light on the grim realities of what our soldiers are enduring every single day in Iraq policing a bloody civil war – a civil war that has no end in sight.

The ad is intended to hold Sen. Susan Collins accountable for her vote on March 29 against bringing a safe and responsible end to the war in Iraq. It was the most historic vote since the vote to authorize the war in 2002.

And despite some recent posturing for the newspapers back home, when it mattered most – Sen. Collins stood with President Bush, not the troops, in voting for open-ended, permanent war in Iraq. The Senator knows full well she is not representing the clear majority of the people of Maine – so what does she do? She attacks the messenger with dubiously titled Internet smear ad called “Truth,” complete with charges of “distortion” of her record and complaints that “no Maine-based groups funded” the ad.

Oddly, in the full minute-and-half-long response, Sen. Collins manages somehow to completely ignore the core issue of our ad: her undeniable vote against ending the war. Odder still, just days before attacking Americans United for its out-of-state funding, Collins accepted a $10,000 check from Snow PAC, the out-of-state political committee run by Utah Sen. Robert Bennett (R).

Yes, the ‘Truth’ hurts, doesn’t it, Senator Collins?

Jeremy J. Funk

Americans United for Change