Madam, - Looking at Mr Bush's legacy from a different perspective to David Marlborough's (February 6th) one can see that his presidency will be missed by some. Under his watch, and facilitated by the Iraq debacle, oil prices have reached record highs, illustrated recently when Exxon Mobil declared record profits.
Banks and property developers have enjoyed huge turnover at the expense of ordinary US home-owners and subsequently the stability of the world economy. The now record $500 billion US military budget has seen huge dividends for the war profiteers such as Betchel, Halliburton and Blackwater. Mr Bush has also breathed new life into the American intelligence community by reinterpreting the Geneva Conventions.
So some will pine for Mr Bush - certain CEOs, parasitic profiteers and US-supporting tyrants. I feel, however, that he will leave one important legacy for the remainder of us to absorb: yet more compelling evidence that unregulated capitalism eventually leads to political and economic instability and benefits only a few at the upper tiers of society. So thanks to Mr Bush for that.
- Yours, etc,
BARRY WALSH, Church Road, Blackrock, Cork.
Madam, - In his robust defence of Bill Clinton's presidential legacy, David Marlborough (February 6th) contrasts Mr Clinton's achievements with those of his "hopelessly incompetent successor", George W. Bush. Included in the charge sheet against Mr Bush is that he is guilty of "breaching the Geneva Conventions". Fair enough.
But Mr Marlborough is forgetting the Bill Clinton himself is guilty of gross breaches of international law, including the UN Charter and the Helsinki Final Act, by authorising the brutal Nato assault on Serbia in 1999. This small sovereign state was relentlessly pounded for 78 days, resulting in thousands of casualties and massive destruction of the country's infrastructure. All done without any legal mandate.
Mr Clinton may be rightly praised for his input to the Irish peace process, but his legacy is forever bloodstained by the cluster bombs which rained down on the cities and towns of Serbia.
- Yours, etc,
TOM O'DONOGHUE, Dromineer, Nenagh, Co Tipperary.