It was clear from the testimony of expert witnesses that the legislature still has that power and can pull the purse strings shut whenever it has the political will to do so.

One witness aptly quotes John Jay who warned that "absolute monarchs will often make war when their nations are to get nothing by it, for purposes and objects merely personal, such as a thirst for military glory, revenge for personal affronts, ambition or private compacts to aggrandize or support their particular families or partisans. These and a variety of other motives, which affect only the mind of the sovereign, often lead him to engage in wars not sanctified by justice or the voice and interests of his people."

It is high time we listened to our founders, wise and experienced John Jay, the compelling Senate witnesses--and the counsels of common sense--and left Iraq at once. That could happen if only Congress would use the one power it has dodged and ignored till now: "the power of the purse."

Sig Rosenblum