Madam, - Tony Allwright (August 1st) professes to be proud that Ireland "is making Shannon available to the brave American soldiers as they try to help the Iraqis". Mr Allwright is an example of that weird sector of Irish society that equates being "pro-American" with a readiness to endorse the worst excesses of a US administration which has long since lost credibility with its own people.
He must surely be aware that citizens of the US have turned en masse against the occupation of Iraq. Furthermore, Americans are usually aghast when I tell them that Ireland - despite its international image and recent experience of the futility of violence - is currently lending a hand to the lunatic adventurism of President Bush.
The immorality of Ireland's stance has rightly been castigated by Archbishop Neill, as it should be by all people of conscience. - Yours, etc,
(Fr) DECLAN DEANE, All Saints Parish, Hayward, California, USA.
Madam, - Tony Allwright finds it "shocking" that a group of Green Party members, in their criticism of the military use of Shannon by the Bush regime in its illegal war on Iraq (July 31st), "hold the United Nations in such evident disdain" and "have such little regard for one of the Arab world's few constitutional democracies".
Mr Allwright speaks of this "constitutional democracy" as if it were a long-established, fully functioning one. He also points out that "the multinational force in Iraq, led by the Americans, is operating in accordance with last November's UN resolution 1723."
Memories have grown short: it seems necessary to remind supporters of the Bush regime, such as Mr Allwright, that the UN was the very same institution so flagrantly ignored and sidelined by the US in its illegal invasion of Iraq in 2003, which amounted to an act of aggression, defined by international law as "the use of force by one state against another, not justified by self-defence or other legally recognised exceptions".
Mr Allwright continues by saying that "critics should remind themselves that it is insurgents and jihadists, not the Americans, who are doing their best to kill innocent Iraqi children, women and men". Supporters of the Bush regime should remind themselves that American and UN sanctions and enforcement of "no-fly zones" have claimed the lives of men, women and in particular, children. In a recent study Unicef found that between 1991 and 1998, 500,000 Iraqi children above the expected death rate died from the effects of UN- and American-enforced sanctions. The then US ambassador to the UN, Madeline Albright, commented that "the price is worth it".
Mr Allwright blindly asserts that "Ireland should be proud of its small contribution in making Shannon available to the brave American soldiers as they try to help the Iraqis". It is not with pride that future history books will record our actions, but calamity and shame for colluding with the US in its illegal war, a war which it is losing. If there is any pride to be felt, it is by former MEP Patricia McKenna and her colleagues for taking a stand against the military use of Shannon by the Bush regime. - Yours, etc,
MARTIN J. NOONE, Donaghmore, Navan, Co Meath.
Madam, - Few senior men of the cloth would make serious political comment through the good offices of Hot Press magazine, but the Church of Ireland Archbishop of Dublin made a good choice. In fact he was "right on". And what he had to say would have been most agreeable to most of his audience.
That is why I was not surprised by the high praise lavished on him by Patricia McKenna and others. His wet liberal take on everything, from Iraq to Drumcree, including of course the Shannon issue, must have left his interviewer with very few questions to ask. - Yours, etc,
NIALL GINTY, The Demesne, Dublin 5.