Vietnam is still our longest war

In his otherwise well written and informative column ("In absence of a draft, the winds of war blow again," March 22) Dan Rodricks continues to propagate the new liberal myth, namely that Afghanistan, at 10 years' length, is our "longest" war. Nope! That dubious honor still belongs to Vietnam, which the Vietnamese themselves date back to President Truman in 1945.

We "left" in 1973, but we were still evacuating Marines from the roof of the U.S. Embassy in then Saigon (now Ho Chi Minh City) in 1975: that's 30 years!

Mr. Rodricks also left out one other huge element in his equation: As long as we continue to reelect all the current members of the Maryland delegation on Capitol Hill — congressmen and senators, warmongers all — we will continue to have these unending wars, as they all vote for them.

Blaine Taylor, Towson

The writer is a Vietnam veteran.