Letter to the Editor,

Apparently, some Korans were inadvertently burned by military personnel in closing down an army base in Afghanistan.

Riots followed and two of our soldiers were killed in the melee. Almost immediately, an apology was extended to our enemy by Obama for our “insensitive” action.

I must say I find our current method of waging war absurd. There seems to be more angst demonstrated for our enemy than for our own soldiers. War is not and never has been a matter of winning “hearts and minds.”

Rather it is a matter of engagement where the strongest side wins. I am appalled at the way our side has conducted the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.

In contrast to World War II, where far more civilians were killed than soldiers, it seems we must apologize now whenever a civilian is killed or (as in this case) a sacred text is damaged.

The people of the Middle East have been raging religious wars against each other for thousands of years and no doubt will continue to do so in the future.

We should abandon our efforts as “peacekeeper” for this region as well as the phony policy of protecting our “interests” and leave at once.

Our meddling in the affairs of other nations such as Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan have all been disasters, should be recognized as such and should provide motivation for an end to our “world policeman” nonsense.

Another thing that should be stopped is Obama’s plan to dismantle our nuclear arsenal. Our nuclear arsenal is the only thing that will cause our enemy to think twice about attacking us.

— Bill Payne

Libby