Why pay for repairs?

Re “Iraqi Shiites Erupt Over Shrine Attack,” Feb. 23

I agree that the bombing of the Shiite shrine and the aftermath are terrible. What I do not understand is why President Bush, as reported in The Times on Thursday, promptly offered to pay for its rebuilding, while there is no such offer for the churches destroyed by arson in Alabama. The administration sees no end of opportunities to spend taxpayer money on ill-considered foreign adventure while every aspect of our domestic institutions suffer. I do appreciate the potential issue of separation of church and state where the expenditure of tax money is concerned, but to the president’s advisors, perhaps building churches in foreign countries is, like torture, permitted.

JOE HILBERMAN

Los Angeles