OPINION:
It is a puzzlement that where the United States and foreign policy are concerned the expression “no good deed goes unpunished” regularly comes to mind.
The latest humiliation suffered by our nation is at the hands of the loathsome Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai, the “leader” who occupies his seat of power and prestige through the blood, sweat, tears and hundreds of billions of dollars that we have contributed to free his country from the grip of the Taliban (“With friends like these … Karzai says U.S., not Taliban, secretly conducted attacks,” Web, Jan. 28).
Mr. Karzai has acknowledged our generosity through a series of criticisms, slights and indignities, the latest of which is his release of 65 individuals from Afghan prisons whom we consider to be terrorists with the capability to threaten Americans if no longer behind bars.
Mr. Karzai tells us that the matter is none of our business and that he hopes that we will not continue to meddle in Afghan affairs.
If this is how Afghanistan thanks us for what we have done as we still have boots on the ground, how much more will the relationship deteriorate after we have diminished our forces or departed?
I am particularly sorry for our troops in Afghanistan who have been grievously wounded physically and/or emotionally, and for the families of those brave Americans who were killed as their loved ones sought to aid a populace composed largely of ungrateful people.
I have never been an advocate of absolute isolationism, but it certainly looks better with every passing day. America, the police officer of the world, always comes away from battle bloodied, bruised and expectorated upon. How much longer do we choose to intervene in conflicts that cannot be won?
OREN SPIEGLER
Upper St. Clair, Pa.
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