Madam, - Mark Steyn certainly doesn't need me to say anything in his defence, but it should be pointed out to Messrs Ratigan and Flinter (March 15th) that he is one of the few global commentators to outline the unpalatable truth of Bush's foreign policy successes to date.
To name a few: the toppling of the Taliban and the introduction of free elections; the deposition of Saddam Hussein and the introduction of free elections; the resultant halt to Gadafy's WMD programme; the exposing of Pakistan's "nuke maestro", AQ Khan, and his passing of nuclear secrets to North Korea and Iran.
Mark Steyn is one of too few columnists in the European media who have argued for a strong US foreign policy and traced what he calls its "trickle-down effect". The germination of a tentative democratic dynamic in Egypt, Jordan, Palestine, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, etc is not due to the Carter/Clinton/UN/EU fetish for Middle East stability which hatched 9/11.
The myopia of the Bush-can-do-no-right brigade is staggering. Mark Steyn may be cocky, but he is correct. Unlike Messrs Ratigan and Flinter, Steyn credits the people of the Middle East with enough wherewithal to choose political institutions and leaders that actually reflect their humanity. Of course, this applies equally to Ireland. - Yours etc.,
JIM GREENAWAY, Queen's Parade, Bangor, Co Down.