KEITH NOLAN,
Madam, - Turkey's recent parliamentary vote regarding access to US troops indicates that she will be a most welcome addition to the EU. - Yours, etc.,
KEITH NOLAN,
Bulloch Harbour,
Dalkey,
Co Dublin.
... ...
Madam, - There is a paradox at the heart of Peadar Kirby's description of a "new world security order" (Opinion, March 3rd).
He expects "people power" to inhibit leaders like such as Bush, Blair and Aznar from using warfare as a means of policy. By extension, he seems also to expect "people power" to stop Saddam Hussein, Slobodan Milosevic or episodes such as the Rwandan genocide. He should understand that power-hungry dictators or genocidal mobs would not be deterred if a million people marched in every world capital.
This asymmetry - that only democratic leaders can feel the power of moral force - will have to be resolved in any new world security system. Mr Kirby also expects arms inspections to provide an alternative to war. This is a new departure, for until Saddam Hussein proved them to be useless, economic sanctions were supposed to provide that alternative.
But the only thing that has forced Saddam to admit arms inspectors is the military build-up on his doorstep! The fact is that the ultimate sanction of war and defeat is the only language that Saddam and Milosevic understand.
Mr Kirby is also surely wrong in placing France at the head of his "moral" world order. France's current opposition to US is purely tactical and self-interested - there is nothing altruistic about it. Any "new world security order" will have to depend ultimately on armed force; and the French government understands this very well. - Yours, etc.,
TOBY JOYCE,
Balreask Manor,
Navan,
Co Meath.
... ...
Madam, - Two weeks ago 100,000 Irish people protested in Dublin against war. Two years ago two million of our people were peaceful witnesses to the visit to Ireland of the remains of St Thérèse of Lisieux, the greatest Christian saint of modern times. These events give clear messages of peace and prayer.
An early attack on Iraq must not take place without exhausting all the alternatives. Once a war is started the repercussions will be difficult to predict and to contain. An attack on Iraq will kill many innocent women and children, further destabilise the Middle East, divide Christian and Muslim, inflate oil prices, depress the world economy, damage the environment and act as a spur to terrorism.
World public opinion is against war. We have heard too much rhetoric from the heads of the two great nations which are spearheading an attack on Iraq. Ireland must stand up and be counted. - Yours, etc.,
D.J. DILLON,
Carysfort Avenue,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
... ...
Madam, - I wish to correct an erroneous statement in an otherwise accurate account of my presence at an anti-war vigil outside the Department of Foreign Affairs in Dublin on Saturday last (The Irish Times, March 3rd).
There was never any possibility of me speaking at the demonstration in Shannon Airport and there was therefore no question of my "opting not to take part amid concerns about possible violence".
I had a long-standing commitment to address a public meeting on the Iraqi situation in Wexford on Friday night and I had also agreed to travel from there to Dublin on Saturday to take part in the Saturday View programme on RTE which was also dealing with Iraq. Following the programme I attended the vigil outside the Department of Foreign Affairs. There was therefore never any question of me being in Shannon.
I would ask that the record be corrected in this regard. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL D. HIGGINS,
Spokesperson on
Foreign Affairs,
The Labour Party,
Dublin 2.
Madam, - Regarding the impending invasion of Iraq, surely it is clear now that this tyrant must be overthrown. Here is a man who by dint of his country's vast natural resources is periodically able to hold the world to ransom. While it is not yet possible to prove that he directly sponsors terrorism in other countries, no-one can seriously doubt that that is indeed the case. He shows utter contempt for international law and worse still has a similar contempt for the will of his own people.
Of course, his claims to represent these people are unfounded - witness his last so called "democratic" electoral victory. So, I say down with this tyrant! Liberate the American people from the evil Bush. - Yours, etc.,
JAMES CRUICKSHANK,
Aughlora,
Tuam,
Co Galway.
... ...
Madam, - The War may well be about "a genuine concern for the safety of the Western way of life", but that's really no different from saying it's about oil.
The Western way of life requires the all-year-round availability of cheap South American bananas in Glenamaddy and Zimbabwean mange-tout in Letterkenny.
The latest electronic gadgets can be shipped from the Far East to Chapelizod and Macroom via the Suez Canal or the Cape of Good Hope. The Western way of life is therefore contingent upon the security of international shipping lanes in "difficult" regions such as the Middle East, which is why the area is peppered with US military installations. Alternatively, our consumer disposables may be flown in at enormous environmental expense. - Is mise,
CATHAL RABBITTE,
Giza,
Egypt.
... ...
Madam, - I'm racking my brains trying to think of reasons why the Americans shouldn't go to war. I can only think of 58,000 reasons - the number of US troops who died in the Vietnam War. - Yours, etc.,
GABRIEL ROSENSTOCK,
Gleann na gCaorach,
Co Átha Cliath.