Re: your Jan. 5 letters, “Soldiers protesting Iraq War�:

Blind obedience masquerades as patriotism when dissent is equated with cowardice.
As a vet myself, I salute those who penetrate the labyrinth of governmental deceit, act upon the principles enunciated by American justices at the Nuremberg Trials, and refuse to dismiss these principles merely as victor trying vanquished.

It’s too bad we don’t have more like U.S. Rep. Jack Murtha, D-Pa., a decorated Marine of 37 years who takes the heat of the chicken hawks on Iraq and keeps on going.

— Alan Benson, Camarillo