MICHAEL J. BUCKLEY,
Madam, - We object to penalty points for speeding, to dumps near our homes, to refugees coming to our country, to the American military aircraft using Shannon, to the protesters for attacking the said aeroplanes, to the Army being deployed to protect them, to the government for not protecting them in the first place, it goes on and on.
Who do we think we are - an enlightened nation of scholars and mystics, so that all the world awaits our opinions? We are happy to take the dollar when it suits us, the sterling pound when it passes freely over our counters.
We are protected to the east by our British and European friends and to the west by the Americans, but we object to being part of a military force to assist them in times of trouble. We are becoming a nation of takers rather than givers.
Here is the modern Irish version of the words of a famous Irish-American: "Ask not what you can do for your friends but ask instead what your friends can do for you". - Yours, etc.,
T. HUGH BYRNE, Curraghmore, Tullagher, Co Kilkenny.
Madam, - I have been reading with interest the various letters in your paper regarding the Shannon refuelling question and Ireland's neutrality. What incenses me most are the writers who warn us of the damage that could done to our economy through a reduction of US investment and the marring of our "special" relationship with the US government.
Is that what it all boils down to now? We decide our own politics and moral viewpoints through fear and greed? We kowtow to other states, checking with them before stating our own view?
What kind of nation are we? Why aren't we grasping this opportunity to clearly state our standpoint? If we had proper, decent and brave leadership we could actually exploit this situation to raise our profile internationally as a peaceful nation, a nation that has endured much conflict itself and which is now, thankfully, attempting to turn its back on its troubled past and to embrace a new peaceful future for its people of all creeds. A nation that actively promotes non-confrontational international problem-solving, willing to step in and offer our services as a peace broker perhaps.
We even had a seat on the United Nations Security Council to further this policy if we so wished. But no, instead our leader persistently fudged the issue for fear of upsetting the wrong people and rocking the cradle of economics. We are truly an infant state with infantile leadership.
Shame on Bertie Ahern and shame on anyone who thinks about their income before thinking of the thousands or even hundreds of thousands of innocents who will perish in this now almost inevitable conflict. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL J. BUCKLEY, Mountainview, Laragh, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - There needs to be war in Iraq to remove Saddam. However, I cannot emphasise strongly enough that the US/British forces should not be allowed to go it alone, as this would set a very dangerous precedent.
If this sort of unsanctioned war becomes acceptable then over time standards will inevitably be eroded and eventually Bush will be free to remove other country's leaders for relatively minor offences.
It is also logical to presume that Bush, while fighting his anti-terrorist/oil war will have less regard for civilian casualties than would the UN.
Yes, Saddam should be removed and the sooner the better, but that job lies solely with the United Nations. - Yours, etc.,
JOHNNY REILLY, Maynooth, Co Kildare.
Madam, - It could only happen in Ireland: units of our national army mobilised to protect American troops, on their way to war, from hatchet-wielding peace people! - Yours, etc.,
GER GERAGHTY, Ballisnahina, Shrule, Galway.
Madam, - Several Ministers have raised the notion of "ties of blood" as justification for Ireland's support of the US in its forthcoming war against Iraq. But it wouldn't be our blood, of course, but that of Arab civilians.
It is fascinating to compare the reaction to the accidental deaths of seven astronauts with the nonchalance towards the anticipated carnage of perhaps hundreds of thousands of Iraqis who had nothing to do with September 11th, 2001. Each Iraqi who will die has a family, a story and hopes, just as each American killed in New York did. The tragedy of the Iraqis is that they happen to live in the wrong place at the wrong time.
They are about to become, with our assistance, what one might term "victims of history" (and inward investment). - Yours, etc.,
CATHAL RABBITTE, Dokki, Giza, Egypt.