President Bush’s new envoy on repairing the US global reputation, Undersecretary of State Karen Hughes, wraps up her tour of several Middle Eastern countries today, capping off a trip that was marked by several confrontations over the occupation of Iraq. A group of Turkish female activists confronted Hughes Wednesday over the occupation, while Hughes faced similar hostility from a gathering of women in Saudi Arabia. Hughes is a longtime confidant of President Bush. Earlier this month, she was tasked with repairing the U.S. image internationally. While she did face confrontations her trip was dominated by friendly meetings with audiences filled with people and groups who received U.S. funding or consisted of former exchange students. When Hughes visited Turkey, however, none of the activists she met with receive U.S. funds and six of the eight women who spoke at the session focused on the Iraq war. Fatma Nevin Vargun, a Kurdish women’s rights activist told Hughes, “War makes the rights of women completely erased and poverty comes after war — and women pay the price.” Vargun also denounced the arrest of Cindy Sheehan in front of the White House Monday at an antiwar protest. The Washington Post reports that as the meeting went on, Hughes looked “increasingly pained.” Hughes defended the Iraq invasion, saying “You’re concerned about war, and no one likes war.” But, she said, “to preserve the peace sometimes my country believes war is necessary.” Another Turkish activist shot back, “War is not necessary for peace. We can never, ever export democracy and freedom from one country to another,” the Turkish activist said.