Madam, - The Islamic Foundation of Ireland, as an official national representative body for Muslims in Ireland, unequivocally condemns the Madrid bombings and ensuing atrocities that killed at least 200 people and grievously wounded more than 1,500 in Madrid on Thursday, March 11th.
Our prayers go out to the families of those whose loved ones have been so callously murdered and wounded. We offer our deepest condolences to the Spanish people and the government of Spain at this time. We hope that the real perpetrators of these crimes against humanity will soon be identified and held to account.
We also repudiate the opportunistic use of the term "Islamic fundamentalists/terrorists" as used by sections of the media to describe the malevolent people who carried out these heinous crimes. To attempt to link these atrocities to the teachings of Islam and the Qur'an is a falsehood that is feeding into the demonisation of Islam and of Muslims in general. From the Islamic viewpoint, any group which kills in the name of Islam is in fact the enemy of Islam.
We call on all decent human beings - Jews, Muslims and Christians as well as those of other faiths and those of none - not to lose heart and to stay determined to work together to rid the world of the scourge of terrorism. - Yours, etc.,
SHAHZAD AHMED, Executive Committee, Islamic Foundation of Ireland, South Circular Road, Dublin 8.
A chara, - An Taoiseach's response to the outrage in Madrid has a hollow ring to it. Surely this was an atrocity waiting to happen given Aznar's ready support for Bush in his discredited war in Iraq.
Many people are wondering out loud: just where does that leave Ireland now?
Bertie Ahern had no mandate from the Irish people to facilitate American forces at Shannon for that dubious war. Nobody marched in the streets to welcome this decision, but many tens of thousands marched against it. It was reckless in the extreme to expose this country to the very real prospect of revenge from such lethal and merciless forces.
Yet we will have to endure Bush again in June when he uses us as a pawn to boost his re-election chances, thereby magnifying the risk of attack at some future date.
Two things are clear. Ireland is a very soft target for reprisal and is living on a wing and a prayer as regards a strike on a nuclear facility on Britain's west coast. And George Bush is now a huge liability and security risk for any European country on which he imposes himself mostly as an uninvited guest. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL REIDY, Kilmore, Tralee, Co Kerry.
Madam, - Before the bombings in Madrid it was quite apparent that one particular political party would win the general election. After the bombings another did. The essential conclusion must be that terrorism works, in countries where voters are craven enough to allow it to do so. - Yours, etc.,
GERRY KENNEDY, Killala, Co Mayo.
Madam, - The result of the Spanish election must be sending more than a shiver of apprehension through the corridors of the White House and Whitehall. It suggests that the writing is on the wall for George W. Bush, Tony Blair and the other leaders who collaborated with them in the "coalition of the willing" to invade Iraq. The Spanish people have given a clear signal that the game is up for warmongers.
One year ago Bush, Blair and their misguided accomplices launched an unnecessary, illegal and immoral invasion of Iraq. In the run-up to this unlawful "pre-emptive strike" they defied and sidelined the UN, split the EU, and tried to make a liar out of Dr Hans Blix, an honourable and conscientious UN official. The failure of the coalition to come up with any weapons of mass destruction, which were the main pretext for the invasion, has of course vindicated Dr Blix and his colleagues. Now we all know who the liars were.
Far from making the world a safer place, as the invaders assured us would be the result of their action, the exact opposite is the outcome. The reality is that many thousands of innocent lives have been sacrificed, Iraq has never been more divided, and the overall world security situation has never been more uncertain and threatening. In fact Bush and Blair have proved to be the most productive recruitment sergeants that al-Qaeda and its associates could have hoped for. They have much to answer for and must be held to account for their unscrupulous, imperialist adventure. It is time to call a spade a spade, and justice demands that they be indicted as international war criminals.
Nor is our own Government free of guilt - far from it. It colluded with the aggressors by allowing Shannon to be used for transport of warplanes and military personnel, despite massive opposition by the people of Ireland. But, as the proud people of Spain used their election to repudiate Mr Aznar's support for the Iraq invasion, we the people of Ireland will shortly have our opportunity to teach our arrogant Taoiseach and government a lesson through the local and European elections.
While our thoughts and our sympathies go out to all those bereaved in the horrendous Madrid bombings, we should also thank the electorate of Spain for pointing the way ahead. - Yours, etc.,
GEARÓID KILGALLEN, Crosthwaite Park South, Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - "Passivism puts us all in danger", writes John Waters (Opinion, March 15th). In my opinion being born into the human race itself is what puts us all in danger - not passivism!
Without a belief in the possibility of passive resistance being a useful "weapon" or tool, humankind are nothing better than very clever monkeys - too clever for our own good.
If I were to believe John Waters's thesis concerning passivism, I would be driven to despair. Surely there is no hope for world peace unless those who have the power to effect change really listen to the voices of passivists before despair turns even them into terrorists. - Yours, etc.,
IRENE REDMOND, Granville Road, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.