Sir, - Mr Brian Cowen states (January 8th) that the European Army/Rapid Reaction Force will not be used without a UN mandate.
Is this the same Mr Cowen whose party's last election manifesto said Fianna Fail would not join NATO's PfP?
Is this the same Mr Cowen whose leader said it would be "fundamentally undemocratic" to join NATO's PfP without a referendum and that to join would give a "clear signal" that Ireland would in due course join NATO?
Is this the same European Army/Rapid Reaction Force the vast majority of whose members, wearing their NATO hats, went to war against Yugoslavia without a UN mandate?
Is this the same European Army/Rapid Reaction Force which President Chirac described at Nice as providing the means to impose the "interests" of the EU? - Yours, etc.,
Roger Cole, Chair, Peace & Neutrality Alliance, Blackrock, Co Dublin.