I Had intended to start this article by referring to Joe Jacob's incredible interview on the Government's planning for a nuclear emergency, most of which I happened to hear on Wednesday morning - but so much has been written and said about it already I shall refrain.
I would add only that it is equally difficult to take seriously the "Government spokesman" who told us that the Government "does not expect that Ireland, as a neutral country, is in danger of attack with biological or chemical weapons". This was said at the very time when the Taoiseach and Minister for Foreign Affairs were making the important gesture of assuring the US government of our full support and willingness to allow our airfields to be used by US forces.
For my part I would prefer to rely upon our relative unimportance as a possible target rather than upon respect by international terrorists for what to them must be the somewhat abstract notion of Irish neutrality!
In two days' time, at one of the gravest moments in global history, we are to take over the presidency of the Security Council. And, whatever the absurdity of some of the things that have been happening at home, I have to say that in this situation I have considerable confidence in the Minister for Foreign Affairs, and in the skill and judgment of his advisers, as they face into a most delicate task.
The statements that Brian Cowen has made on this crisis have consistently been measured, and well-judged. The supportive tone of what he has had to say about the US will have ensured that whether meetings of the Security Council during our Presidency are chaired by him personally or by our highly respected Permanent Representative, Mr Richard Ryan, Ireland in its new role will be taken seriously in Washington.
The United States has frequently shown that it had little time for the UN, to which for many years it refused even to pay its subscription. But times have changed. Arrears have now been hastily paid and in the present crisis, under the wise guidance of the Secretary of State, former Gen Colin Powell, the diplomacy of the United States has been firmly multilateralised, making full use of the United Nations Security Council.
Whatever angry or foolish words may, understandably, have been spoken by others in the US in the aftermath of the outrage of 11th September - and a quite spectacular ignorance of history was needed to have sought to rally the Arab world, with others, behind a "crusade"! - the Secretary of State knows that to have any chance of success in the hugely ambitious task of defeating and eradicating terrorism that it has set itself, the US will need huge support.
US forces may or may not be successful in tracking down and arresting terrorist leaders such as Osama bin Laden, but the struggle to eradicate this evil will succeed only if the world combines whole-heartedly to devise and implement effective measures against it.
Moreover, if the danger of inadvertently turning this anti-terrorism campaign into a generalised conflict with the Islamic world is to be avoided, it will require a sensitive approach to the Arab world. What is not needed at this time is the kind of ill-judged anti-Islam remarks recently made by the Italian premier, Berlusconi, in Germany.
Whilst it is not yet clear whether the US will seek more specific UN authority for future armed actions against terrorism, or will rely on its right to self-defence under the UN Charter and on the provisions of the strongly worded American-inspired resolution of September 12th, the US will certainly be concerned not to prejudice the support it has already won from the world body for its stance.
Indeed it is now seeking to consolidate and extend this support through a new UN resolution that would establish a Security Council committee to monitor the implementation of anti-terrorist measures worldwide.
In the potentially key position in which Ireland now finds itself, our ability to make a positive contribution has to depend upon securing and retaining the trust of the US - and on deploying positively our diplomatic skills and using the widespread goodwill we have built up over the years.
Naturally, a primary concern of Irish diplomacy will be to encourage the US to continue to react in a measured and proportionate way to the terrible events of September 11th - an objective shared by all America's allies and friends. That would not have been helped if, under pressure from the vocal anti-US and neutralist lobby, our Government had fallen into the trap of ambiguity. A positive recent development has been the shift from talk of bombing Afghanistan to proposals to tackle more energetically the desperate aid needs of millions of Afghans both inside the country and in refugee camps beyond its borders.
The resumption of World Food Programme deliveries to northern and western Afghanistan and the UN Secretary General's warning to the Taliban regime about the consequences to them of further obstructing UN aid efforts, are both welcome. Our Government should respond generously to the UNHCR call for $252 million additional aid.
What the US most needs is support, active or passive, from the Arab world, for whatever actions it may contemplate in self-defence. This has become a significant factor in the evolution of US Middle-Eastern policy. If a quick, violent reaction was contemplated by some in the US administration, concern to maximise Arab support and to minimise negative reaction from Islamic states has already gone a long way towards heading off that danger.
This US concern is clearly behind the strong pressure it has put on the Israelis and Palestinians to end their reciprocal violence and get back to the negotiating table. This represents a marked shift away from the damaging inertia of US diplomacy in the Middle East earlier this year - a stance that reflected an initial trend towards inward-looking policies by the new Republican administration.
Today the US has turned outwards again, concerned with the rest of the world as it has not been since critical moments in the Cold War several decades ago. We have yet to see just what form this new orientation of US policy will take - but 18 days after the appalling events we have grounds for hoping that US actions will be attuned to the concerns of many of its friends around the world, rather than just reflecting the understandable anger of its traumatised people.