Dear Secretary of State Colin Powell,

I have great respect for you as a leader and a politician, and I feel that you may be able to answer a question I have related to the “brain drain” that is going on this country and how it is related to the [impending] war with Iraq.

In your writing (Lessons for Leaders slidedeck, etc.) you stress America’s current state and future as a “brain-based economy.” I interpret this to mean that strengthening education and building core compentencies as a nation are goals we should strive for. Example: We are the #1 exporter of software and airplanes, but that lead is slipping fast; we need to find new and fund existing “brain-based” industries in this country if we want to remain competitive and ahead of the curve in the international market.

Talent scouts are coming to this nation almost weekly now and enticing our best and brightest to leave the country for jobs in other countries. Last month I heard of a group from Australia that was trying to persuade Californians to move to Australia to start new businesses.

One of Bush’s first decisions in office was to impose a 30% tariff on steel imports. This allowed steelworkers to keep their jobs in a dying industry rather than be retrained in another. Owners of steel companies remain wealthy.

Academics everywhere are banding together to oppose the war with Iraq. Many are threatening walkouts. Students are striking. Entire univeristy faculty bodies are issuing statements against war. Meanwhile state’s budgets are hurting, education spending is decreasing, and the cost of tuition is skyrocketing.

People all across this nation, including myself, have come to the conclusion that America is not a place they would want to raise children. Who wants to bring a child into a world where they can not get a decent education?

Is this Administration attempting to implode the United States of America by stripping it of it’s “brain based” resources?