Letters to the editor for Friday, March 21

At a great distance, it's often hard for us ordinary Americans to judge the claims and counterclaims about whether we should leave Iraq, stay for a couple of years, or stay on long term.

However, a recent news account of the reconstruction of the famous mosque in Samarra, Iraq, was particularly revealing for one basic fact. The contract was awarded to a Turkish construction company and it has have hired Bangladeshi workers. This is an amazing situation given the desperate need for economic development in Iraq, and the demoralizing unemployment that regularly sends young men into the insurgency we're trying to stop.

What conclusion should we draw from this? It would seem that either the U.S. reconstruction effort in Iraq is today as incompetent as it was right after the invasion or the problems we face there are so insurmountable that even after five years of trying we still can't spend money in a way that employs Iraqi citizens. Either way, it would seem that a few more years of trying are unlikely to bear fruit.

DAN FINN, BOWLUS, MINN.

Their shoes, and lives Your photographer, reporter and columnist (March 20) missed another perspective from the State Capitol on Wednesday. The "Eyes Wide Open" exhibit also showed shoes of young children, grandparents and others affected by violence. The piles of shoes of all sizes represented a fraction of the loss of Iraqi lives. Names were read of Iraqi dead in addition to the names of soldiers. When will we see that all life is sacred, not just the U.S. soldier?

E.A. PEPPERWOLF, RED WING, MINN.

The friendship that Sen. Barack Obama has with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright is exactly why we like him.

Who among us wouldn't want this kind of friendship?

BILL DECKER, ST. PAUL

The speech of a leader Barack Obama's extraordinary speech transcended all political and any other singular issues facing our country. He spoke as a true leader must. Whether or not you agree with him, he reset our moral compass. It's the foundation our next president must have. It's time for the thoughtful, intelligent hope Obama represents.

TOM BRUMM, MINNEAPOLIS

A cover for bad choices Barack Obama's beautifully crafted speech still does not excuse his behavior. He chose to continue going to a church where his then-minister preached hatred of America and more specifically hatred of white America.

JANET P. CARLSON, WATERTOWN

The company he keeps Barack Obama's acquiescence to his former pastor's remarks allows of only two interpretations: Either he privately sympathizes with the sentiments, or he lacks the same endowment of integrity and conviction that would have compelled the average person to find a new church.

Like its mirror image in the white population, there is a segment of the black community that is paranoid, divisive, racist and hateful. It is highly relevant that Obama chooses to align himself with this crowd in his private life.

CARY JOHNSON, BLOOMINGTON

Can't collar the clergy How preposterous to assume I am responsible for all the things my pastor says! If I do not agree with everything he expounds from the pulpit I am to leave the church? I don't think so -- all the pews in all the places of worship would be empty.

Officials in the Osseo School District, which has been reported to be in dire straits financially, could probably find a better way to spend the money being used on legal fees to appeal a lawsuit by a homosexual student group that wants equal access to communication tools (Star Tribune, March 20).

They are closing schools because they have no money, yet they are willing to spend thousands to prevent a poster from being hung in the hallway? With that kind of decisionmaking and leadership, it's no wonder the district is broke.

MATT THOMAS, SHAKOPEE

Your call for engagement rather than boycott of the upcoming Olympics in China (editorial, March 18), brings to mind the 1936 Olympic games in Berlin. Explain to me how this engagement affected Germany in particular and Europe as a whole?

GEORGE HENNUM, BLOOMINGTON

Right now, too much of our affordable housing is concentrated in the urban core. Any new homes built in north Minneapolis should be designed to attract middle-class families. At the same time, more affordable units should be built in suburban areas so that the working poor have an opportunity to live in the areas where they work.

A scattered-site approach to affordable housing will help reduce the concentration of poverty in north Minneapolis while, at the same time, providing stability across the region.