Sir, - As a resident of the United States I would appreciate it if writers to your Letters page stopped worrying about what the US might do and started worrying about what the people behind this act of war are going to do next.
Contrary to the perceptions created by our president, the US is not about to shower randomly chosen Third World countries with cruise missiles. The leadership of this country is fully aware of both the difficulties of fighting a war in Afghanistan and the importance of not antagonising the vast majority of Muslims who are as horrified as the rest of us.
When this country acts it will do so after considering of the available information and on the understanding that it will have to justify its decisions to both its own citizens and the world.
The same cannot be said for the people who bombed New York. They are accountable to no one. They have issued no demands, so there is nothing to negotiate about. They have refrained from identifying themselves, so there is nobody to negotiate with.
The traditional Western liberal panacea - "We need to resolve our differences through negotiation" - is clearly not going to work here.
The perpetrators have also shown a contempt for international borders that has rendered Irish neutrality meaningless. In practice, Ireland has no choice about which side to take in this conflict. - Yours, etc.,
David Rolfe, Walnut Creek, California, USA.