Madam, - It is very sad that there are people in this country who support this unjustified and illegal war in Iraq. As members of the Kurdish community here in Ireland we are sick and tired of those who use our people for justifying their war and indeed their support for the war. No-one wanted to know about the Kurds since the last Gulf war, now all of a sudden Kurds are in media again, not because they care about Kurds - it is rather one sided and biased views. There is no mentioning of 15 million Kurds living in Turkey.
The abuse of the memory of the victims of Halabja in the interests of an imperialist war does nothing to assist the Kurds today. In their search to justify any pretext for their war against Iraq, Bush and Blair have been tried to enlist the Kurdish war dead to their campaign since the beginning of this invasion in Iraq.
Unfortunately, some people are equally culpable and have eagerly joined in this orgy of insincerity. But these new friends of the Kurds should fool no-one as they cynically exploit human suffering for their own immoral imperial ends. Even their repeated assertion that Saddam gassed his own people is deeply insulting; for they were and are not Saddam's own people, they form part of the Kurdish nation.
What were these newfound friends of the Kurds doing for the last 15 years? Given the confusion and dishonesty now surrounding the events, it is necessary to recall the true record of Britain and America on Iraq, Halabja and the Kurds. While it has been widely reported that Saddam Hussein was armed, equipped, supplied and financed by the US for many years right up until Baghdad's intervention in Kuwait, the finer details are rapidly forgotten under the impact of the propaganda blitz to which we have been relentlessly subjected over the past few months.
For the 15 million Kurdish people living in Turkey, Newroz (Kurdish New year) has gained added significance because Turkey refuses to recognize Kurds as a minority, insisting the country's largest ethnic group are fully assimilated into Turkish society, while forbidding expression of Kurdish ness, whether it is the celebration of Newroz or the use of their unique language.
Turkey has thousands of troops massed on its border and has threatened to occupy northern Iraq and disarm the Kurds.
The government in Ankara seeks to use its military force to block the potential flow of Kurdish refugees into Turkey, and to block any attempt by Kurds in Iraq to form an independent state.
The Irish Government and the European Union must demand an end to this unlawful war on Iraq and to the brutal, systematic and sustained political, cultural, linguistic, educational, economic and social discrimination that continues by the Turkish State against Kurds, who make up almost 30 per cent of the population of Turkey.
It is obvious that any meaningful political progression in Turkey as a whole is impossible as long as this discrimination exists. We do not support this war in Iraq and those who are taken side with US and Britain do not represents us either. We Kurds in Ireland say, "Not in Our Name". - Yours, etc.,
LATIF SERHILDAN, AHMET SALMAN, ABDULLAH RAHMAN, SEMIH AZIZ, FERIT SIRAY, CARLA KENNEDY, Kurdistan Solidarity Ireland, Glasheen Road, Cork.
Madam, - While I do not condone the war on Iraq, I find that I cannot condemn it either. Instead, I wish to point out a few issues which seem to have been overlooked with regard to the entire sorry affair.
1) I believe that there is an expectation that this should be a nice war. Bombs are dropped, troops go in, finish the job and secure the country, happily free from tyrannical reign. There is no such thing as a nice war - people will die. Indeed, there has not yet been a war which has not resulted in deaths.
2) Do people really expect there to be no civilian casualties? Modern warfare is not nearly as precise as some people make out. Smart weapons may be able to better pinpoint a military target than the hospital next door, but both conventional and smart weapons are designed to explode, resulting in death and destruction.
3) With regard to unfortunate shootings of civilians in cars/wherever: place yourself in the shoes of the soldier. Your life and the lives of your fellow soldiers may depend on a split second decision to shoot. Checkpoints are rendered ineffective by suicide bombers, so if warnings are ignored, the shoot-first-ask-questions-later method will probably keep you and your people alive longer.
4) The media have an unprecedented role in this war and as such have an absolute duty to report evenly and without bias. The fact that a column of three tanks was reported as a column of 150 tanks, readily illustrates the need for restraint in the effort of certain media groups to win the race to report the news as quickly as possible. - Yours, etc.,
CONOR HEENEY, Naas, Co. Kildare.
Madam,- It seems to have escaped Messrs Bush, Blair and Rumsfeld that Iraqi civilians may not fully appreciate being murdered, maimed, widowed, orphaned, bombed, battered and burnt by the "gifts of liberation" being bestowed on them from above. - Yours, etc.,
DAVID REDDY, Durham Road, Sandymount, Dublin 4
Madam, - In his appropriately dated tribute to himself, Michael Moore (April 1st) carefully omits any mention of his own part in the election of George W. Bush. On the one hand, he notes the role of 3,000 apparently erroneous votes for Pat Buchanan in Florida in swinging that state for Bush, but is silent about the pivotal role of votes for Ralph Nader in that and other states in achieving the same outcome. And amongst the most prominent campaigners for Ralph Nader? Step forward, Michael Moore. Moore thinks that he followed "my conscience and my heart" with his Oscarspeech. But in November 2000, he followed nothing but his ego. He might want to consider a few more Masses. - Yours, etc.,
KEVIN CAREY, R St, NW Washington DC 20007 US.
Madam, - How can the Government continue to offer access to Shannon to the American armed forces, when they know of the massive violence of the attacks on Iraq (8,700 bombs dropped in 12 days) and as they hear of the continuing loss of lives on all sides there. The withdrawal of facilities at Shannon from the US armed forces might not prevent the continued waging of war but it might reinstate some morality into our foreign policy on this issue. The thought of facilitating, for reasons of confessed self-interest, what could amount to a further 120,000 troops on their way to bring terror, not peace, to Iraq in the coming weeks, is frightful. I hope that those against this war and the use of Shannon, will, in future elections, find alternative representatives to vote for to those TDs, MEPs and Local Authority Councillors who support the Government's policy on Shannon. - Yours, etc.,
RUAIRÍ Ó CUÍV, St Kevin's Tce, New Bride Street, Dublin 8.
Madam, - In Ireland both factions have said they believe Sadamm's regime is evil. As the war has started are the Irsih people prepared to see evil triumph?
There is no looking back in war. - Yours, etc.,
TOM JOYCE, Mt. Seskin Rd, Saggart, Co. Dublin.
Madam, - Bush-Blair-Hussein. Never in the history of human endeavour have so many lies been told to so many by so few. - Yours, etc.,
TOM HYLAND, East Timor Campaign, Dame Street, Dublin 2.
Madam, - Perhaps Kevin Myers instead of wasting his time addressing cretins, blithering idiots and disagreeable fools could turn his literary skill to bringing some consolation to that woman who held the dead bodies of her two children slaughtered by US troops firing 25mm cannon into a vehicle at a checkpoint. - Yours, etc.,
RICHARD FLYNN, Ballinteer, Dublin 16.