Something's wrong here

Do you ever wonder about decisions made on our behalf in establishing relationships with leaders around the world? I will confine my remarks to the Middle East although it could easily be expanded to include South and Central America where for decades we have supported Dictators who oppress their own people.
I loved the picture of Don Rumsfeld shaking hands with Saddam Hussein when Iraq was at war with Iran. We gave him Billions in aid including poison gas he used not only against Iran but also Iraqi Kurds in the North where thousands were killed.
After Gadhafi capitulated on weapons of mass destruction he was welcomed into the United Nations with our support.
We went to war with the Taliban and al Qaida in Afghanistan ostensibly to punish them for the 9/11 terror attack based on the assumption that the terrorists received their training there. I always thought that was a mistake since 16 of the 19 involved were from Saudi Arabia.
Under the rule of the Taliban, women were removed from the work force, girls from schools and they were forced to stay in their home and only be allowed out with a male escort wearing burgas that covered them from head to toe.
When the Taliban were defeated we supported Hamid Karzai in becoming President. Now I read in the Star on 3/7/2012 that in order to help persuade the Taliban to live in peace he has instituted the same shameful rules which amounts to subjugation of all women in that country. This is the same man our President apologized to recently over the burning of Quran books. I never read that Karzai apologized for murdering our soldiers indiscriminately in retaliation for that act.
I guess our strategic interests are more important than promoting freedom and justice for members of the female sex. Not in my book. After spending a trillion dollars and the loss of thousands of lives this is what we have to accept for our effort. I say shame on all our elected and military leaders. There was a time when they valued human rights issues.

Jack B. Walters
March 8, 2012