Madam, - In the wake of the London bombings we have had the usual macho rhetoric from Bush and Blair.
The "war on terror" will be pursued to a successful end, we are told. Humbug! The so-called war on terror is already hopelessly lost. The only issue to be decided now is how heavy the defeat and how the international community can allow Bush and Blair to save face.
The concept of this "war" was flawed from the beginning. It was always going to be impossible to win, as even a cursory consideration of the history of the world would have told our two great, increasingly comic-book heroes. Now, almost four years after the attacks in New York, the world is a far more dangerous place than ever before. Iraq is in chaos, its infrastructure in ruins, and the country itself perhaps now on the verge of break-up. In Afghanistan, the Taliban has successfully regrouped and is in effective control of more and more of the country.
Two major European cities have been bombed. London is in a state of terror and the most recent attacks in Egypt are the second major attack there in the past few years. In addition, we have seen massive attacks in Bali, Turkey and Saudi Arabia. Civil rights are under constant attack and there is an increasing disregard for human rights. Torture is now flourishing as it was in the middle ages.
The illegal invasion of Iraq has turned out to be the greatest "recruiting sergeant" that al-Qaeda could possibly have wished for.
We should not be surprised that the "war on terror" has been waged in a most incompetent manner. The respective records of Bush and Blair both at home and abroad show that they are in fact ineffectual leaders prone to take populist decisions.
At a time when we need wise statesmen and courageous leaders we have instead mediocrity. Worrying times indeed for all those who value peace and justice. - Yours, etc,
ALAN McPARTLAND,
Grange Court,
Rathfarnham,
Dublin 16.
A chara, - The London Metropolitan Police has publicly declared its change in policy: it is now necessary to shoot suspects in the head if it is feared they are carrying explosives. It admits that more innocent people may die as a result.
We are almost four years into the so-called war on terror. I get the feeling that terror is winning. No use changing tactics: the whole strategy is wrong.
What will it take to force a change of direction in Washington and London? - Is mise,
CIARÁN MAC AONGHUSA,
Nice,
An Fhrainc.
Madam, - Mark Steyn makes trite and unsubstantiated claims when he writes: "Behead sodomites and mutilate female genitalia, and gay groups and feminist groups can't wait to march alongside you denouncing Bush and Blair" (Opinion, July 25th).
Gay groups generally restrict their concerns to issues that specifically disadvantage gay people - such as relationship recognition and personal safety. I have yet to hear of any gay group marching alongside extremist Muslims.
Extremist Muslims' belief that their way is right and everyone else is wrong and immoral is the same as that of the twisted Christian fundamentalists who have bombed gay venues in Atlanta and London, who seek to ban gay parades in Belfast, and who devalue and demean our relationships at the same time as protesting at our assumed promiscuity. Every kind of religious fundamentalism is evil and intrinsically disordered when it believes that it alone possesses the truth and is entitled to treat people with other cultures, values or identities as less than human.
True, you can't argue with a martyr, but few Muslims are extremist.
Mr Steyn would be better off recognising our mutual humanity rather than attempting, as is his custom, to damn as many people as possible in the same sentence. - Yours, etc,
Morgan Carpenter,
Lower Clanbrassil Street,
Dublin 8.