Madam, - The American administration and its supporters want the rest of us to accept its militant policy towards Iraq. The arguments twist and turn but do not convince, as has been made clear by millions of demonstrators around the world for peace, by a recent debate in the House of Commons in London, by a hard-hitting speech by the Senator for West Virginia, in a thousand-and-one articles and speeches and commentaries in the press, by the reluctance of countries around Iraq to grant American and British armed forces the facilities they want, and by much else.
One of the more obscure arguments, that time is running out, was put in its place last week by a former British ambassador to the United Nations: there is no ticking clock. United Nations monitors are doing a professional job with some co-operation from the Iraqi authorities. They may not be able to give positive proof of anything because, as the Astronomer Royal put it, absence of evidence is not evidence of absence. But we can contain the situation until something changes in Iraq, or until the Security Council comes up with a better idea of getting its way than presiding over invasion.
Most governments now accept the need for United Nations cover. But cover is the wrong word; the Security Council resolution is not meant to be a rubber stamp, authorising strong nations to do what they want to do. In framing a resolution, or discussing one put before it, members of the Security Council or their representatives need to talk long and hard, each individual wearing his international hat, and the collective determined to find the best way forward. Only at the end does it come to vote and veto.
Recent deliberations have not been like that: two or three gathered together tried to pre-empt the outcome. Even resolution 1441 was carefully crafted to gain support, not solve the problem.
Iraq, Mesopotamia, stems from an ancient civilisation. But the country is a mosaic of difference - ethnic, religious, tribal, occupational, political. Some Iraqis would no doubt like a change of government, but not all for the same reasons. Some have suffered under the present government, but not all at the same time; and, ironically, there was a bad time before the Gulf War when Saddam Hussein was popular in some western capitals, because he was fighting Khomeini of Iran, the demon of the moment.
All Iraqis would like an end to sanctions, but none of this means they would like to be invaded by a foreign power.
The overriding argument against invasion is that it would make everything worse. In the short run, invasion or bombing invariably rallies people to their own side. It would cause misery and destruction within Iraq's borders, and the repercussions are unpredictable.
As ordinary citizens the tools we bear are brittle - none more so than mine, as an elderly person on the sidelines. But because my husband, Terence Garvey, was in the diplomacy business, I have lived in many parts of the world. I know about bombing and I know about war. When it begins you have no idea where it will end. - Yours, etc.,
ROSEMARY GARVEY,
Killadoon,
Westport,
Co Mayo.
Madam, - So British ministers are threatening to resign over Tony Blair's headlong rush into an unjust war. Any chance members of Fianna Fáil or the PDs will find the backbone to follow suit over our Government's grovelling connivance, via Shannon, in same? Unfortunately, I think not. - Is mise,
EDMOND CRONIN,
Uam Var Grove,
Bishopstown,
Cork.
Madam, - I hope the Taoiseach is making alternative plans for St Patrick's Day. I for one would not like him to be spending it in the company of people who could be committing crimes against humanity. - Yours, etc.,
EAMONN CONWAY,
Ballina,
Co Tipperary.
Madam, - Bush and Blair are religious men and of course they read the New Testament. When the Pharisees were anxious to hurry into violence against Jesus, Nicodemus said to them: "But surely our law does not allow us to pass judgment on anyone without first giving him a hearing and discovering what he is doing?"(John 7.51.)
Let Hans Blix continue to discover before anyone passes judgment that war is necessary. - Yours, etc.,
Fr DESMOND O'DONNELL,
Inchicore,
Dublin 8.