Madam, - As the millionth brave American soldier passes through Shannon, you can almost taste the despair in Brendan Butler's letter (October 17th) prompted by some rare positive tidings from Iraq, namely that al-Qaeda seems to be on the retreat ( World News, October 16th).
Harking back to George Bush's (in)famous visit in 2003 to an aircraft carrier which flew a banner saying "Mission Accomplished", he writes as if he fervently hopes that the latest good news will be similarly confounded, infrastructure further destroyed, civilian deaths continue, the war remains unwinnable.
It seems strange to yearn for failure in a difficult yet honourable venture by the multinational force led by the US, which - at the behest of the legitimate, constitutional, democratic government of Iraq - fights under a unanimous mandate from the United Nations Security Council under Resolution 1723. - Yours, etc,
TONY ALLWRIGHT, Killiney, Co Dublin.