I am addressing Benjamin Holmes’ claim made in his letter of Oct. 20 (“Syria pullout defies military-industrial complex”).

I do not dispute cautioning against the military-industrial complex. I do dispute his claim that our current president is challenging it. This year’s military budget is slated to be one of the largest ever, which will not curb the growth of that problem. Further, the president has not brought any troops home, only moved them to another warring region and turned our troops into a mercenary force as he deploys them in Saudi Arabia.

Donald Trump has moved a small force out of Syria, but Mr. Holmes neglected to mention that those forces were protecting an ally that had fought and died in the thousands, an ally now left to the mercies of a man who might easily begin some form of ethnic cleansing. The president has not done anything to end the “endless wars” but rather moved to keep those wars active as he now foolishly ignores the possible rise of ISIS and shows the world, once again, that America’s word is not to be trusted.

I would also dispute the suggestion that Mr. Holmes made at the end of the letter: “Perhaps (the president) is the ‘stable genius‘ after all.” I will not, however, cite any evidence to make my point, since that abounds and is in the public domain. Instead, I will simply say that if the president is a “stable genius,” then I will take the counsel of fools.

Linda Pankewicz

Raymond