Lynn C. Woolsey: “like all of my colleagues, I have received thousands of e-mails, letters, faxes and phone calls about the ongoing…”

“like all of my colleagues, I have received thousands of e-mails, letters, faxes and phone calls about the ongoing occupation of Iraq. So many of them are touching, and they are impassioned. They urge me, they call on me, and they even beg me to get the administration to bring our troops home, and to allow the Iraqis to restore the security of their Nation. Last week I received a set of letters that stood out among all of them, from Ms. Rene King's students at Sheppard School in Santa Rosa, California. Most of the children are 9 through 13 years old, yet their thoughts are mature and beyond their age. In fact, their words speak so much truth, a truth which we can absolutely not ignore. From Marcos, 10 years old, ``Can you please stop the war in Iraq? Because the people in Iraq aren't safe. Their villages and houses are destroyed. I do not like fighting.'' From Arturo, 11 years old. ``Can you please stop the war in Iraq? There is a lot of killing, a lot of people have died. People want to get out of fighting. I feel sad when people die.'' From Freddy, 11 years old. ``Can you please stop the war in Iraq? I do not like fighting and killing people. Some people are dead. Don't send my people, please. We don't like to fight all the people. The people are sad. We need to save money for poor people here in America. Ms. King (my teacher) is sad. Stop sending people into the war.'' From Tony, 11 years old. ``Can you please stop the war in Iraq?...”