SIR – I see William Hague has allocated £5 million of British taxpayers’ money to assist the “rebels” in Syria.

Have our leaders learned nothing yet from our previous adventures in the Middle East (I will just mention here our efforts in Afghanistan, as long ago as the 1980s. The West then tacitly supported the nascent Taliban, and, indirectly, later Al Qaida)?

This will come back to haunt us, make no mistake. But, probably, by then, William Hague will no longer be Foreign Secretary. What fools we are led by!

A Michael Murphy, Wainman Street, Baildon