A chara, - A number of correspondents to this page have argued that the invasion of Iraq was responsible for the recent London bombings. I do not dispute that they are linked, but will a withdrawal from Iraq by allied troops result in an end to the campaign of terror waged by people who have a perverse view of Islam?
Suppose the US, Britain and their allies pull out of Iraq; will this mean these extremists will desist in their attacks on Western cities and resorts? Remember that there were attacks by al-Qaeda and allied groups long before September 11th, 2001 (including one on the World Trade Centre).
I have no doubt that these fundamentalists will continue to attack Western liberal democracies and seek to support the return of Taliban-style regimes to predominantly Muslim countries. The murder of a Dutch film-maker by such an extremist should serve as a reminder that societies which value freedom of speech and expression will always be targets for those with a very narrow vision for the world.
I would love to believe that a Bush/Blair withdrawal from Iraq would make the world a safer place, but this is not the case.
These terrorists have no democratic mandate and interpret the Koran in a way deplored by the overwhelming majority of Muslims. They despise the values we take for granted in a democracy - equality, tolerance, freedom of expression, freedom of association and protest. The democratic world can seek to understand them but the terrorists have only a wish to destroy the democratic world. There is no option, therefore, but to defeat them. - Is mise,
MALCOLM BYRNE,
Gorey,
Co Wexford.
Madam, - I would like to express my shock at the revelation that Mr Jean Charles de Menezes was shot a staggering eight times by London police. For specially trained professionals this appears to be unnervingly trigger- happy. They say that Mr de Menezes ignored their calls to halt and that he jumped over the turnstiles in what seemed to be an attempt to run, but I still cannot imagine, in any way, why it was necessary to fire eight shots into his head and body. Surely this tragic mishap places a major doubt over Scotland Yard's shoot-to-kill policy. - Yours, etc,
DENISE BLANEY,
Kill o' the Grange,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - Usually I prefer not to react to the liberal-baiting of Mark Steyn, but I feel compelled to respond to last Monday's example of the simplistic casuistry so beloved by the American right.
Despite that sector's refusal to engage with any structural analysis of terrorism, it seems Mr Steyn is finally willing to accept its causes might be something other than an irrational hatred of "our freedom". However, it is not to economic inequality or ill-considered foreign policy to which he turns to understand the roots of terrorist atrocities. Instead he lays the blame squarely at the door of political correctness and multiculturalism.
By taking a cartoonish example of multiculturalism in action as representative of a general social malaise, he insidiously links immigration and cultural tolerance with terrorist violence. It is not the continuing violence in the Middle East to which we must look to understand why so many innocent people were killed in London, but rather, it seems, our own naïve acceptance of difference.
That Mr Steyn should use a tragedy such as occurred in London to attack those who question the "war on terror" is not surprising. But the distasteful racist undertones of his argument must be challenged. - Yours, etc,
CONN HOLOHAN,
Errigal Road,
Drimnagh,
Dublin 12.