Madam, - What spoils Anthony Redmond's letter of November 23rd is that he says far too much. It turns out that it is not about Saddam Hussein's well-deserved death penalty; it is not even about whether (despite Amnesty) he had a very reasonably fair trial. What, in fact, the Redmond letter turns into is a typical anti-Western polemic.
I should like to assert that it is precisely this blanket condemnation - this absurd attempt to equate violence in the cause of law and justice with violence in the cause of sectarian division that has helped to get us where we are today: with an Iraq where over 7,000 civilians have been murdered by their fellow Iraqis during September and October. It is an attitude exemplified by a cartoon printed in the London Times after July 7th showing an Islamic terrorist and an Anglo-American identically dressed and holding identical bombs. The caption: "See the difference."
By all means let us give half an ear to Cardinal Martino's curious opinion. By all means let us condemn the behaviour of the Israeli forces during the recent war in Lebanon. But let us also try to keep in mind that whether or not Saddam Hussein deserves to die has nothing whatever to do with these events. - Yours, etc,
MICHAEL TATHAM, Dove Lane, Harrold, Beford, England.