Sir, - Can anything be more base and ignominious than the inaction of "Western" powers in the face of the entirely predictable genocide once more being visited on the defenceless people of East Timor?
The answer is: yes. Nothing could be more base and ignominious than the determination of Bertie Ahern and his FF/PD cohorts to ally this country (thus negating our honourable tradition of support for oppressed peoples, including the East Timorese) with the same NATO for which the destruction of Yugoslavia and the appeasement of Indonesia serve the same purpose: the bolstering of the arms market.
Rather than wallow passively in the despair and cynicism such developments might induce, I shall be answering AFrI's call to march from Parnell Square to the Dail on September 25th to protest against Ahern's decision to break his promise to the electorate and drag us into NATO's PfP. I believe that the last vestiges of our credibility - and indeed our democracy - are at stake. - Yours, etc.,
Raymond Deane, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.