A former ISU student and Ames resident presented her opinion on the recent terror attacks and the reactions of the U.S. government.

Holly Burkhalter, advocacy director of Physicians for Human Rights, an organization that works to promote health by protecting human rights, spoke Monday night in the Sun Room of the Memorial Union. Burkhalter shared her views on the involvement of the U.S. government in Afghanistan, which included both support and rejection of its actions.

“One of the most disappointing areas of our government’s actions have been within the treatment of prisoners in Afghanistan,” she said. “The U.S. has been holding these prisoners in terrible places where many of the prisoners have been dying, and this could easily be corrected.”

Despite this disagreement, Burkhalter supported most of the U.S. government’s actions so far, including the use of precision weapons to avoid civilian casualties.

Joe Lynch, a friend of Burkhalter’s, attended the speech but agreed with little of what she said.

“We hadn’t paid our dues here in America until Sept. 11, and that was the price we needed to pay for our ignorant behavior,” Lynch said. “We need to find a way besides war to solve our problems, but the government refuses to do so because they don’t ever want to give in.”

Overall, Burkhalter assessed the necessary changes that need to be made for a positive end in this “war.”

“We need a thorough accounting of what has happened, whether it be small or large,” Burkhalter said. “We need to compensate victims and take care of the damage that has been done by our government.”

Attending to the needs of the civilians and assessing the Afghan prisoner of war issues should be priorities for the U.S. government, Burkhalter said.

“We need to be leaders and help these countries get back on their feet, especially Afghanistan,” she said.

“Many of the things that have happened are easily correctable and are simply the abuse of human rights.”