Madam, - Coilín Ó hAiseadha writes (September 1st): "If we say we should support those who revolt against the enemies of democracy, tyrants like Slobodan Milosevic, how can we stay quiet about Mikhail Saakashvili's intimidation of the political opposition at the time of the Georgian presidential election. . ?"
Just for the record, Milosevic was charged by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in the Hague with "individual criminal responsibility, including superior responsibility, for 66 counts of grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, violations of the laws or customs of war, genocide or complicity in genocide and crimes against humanity, committed in Croatia between August 1991 and June 1992, Bosnia and Herzegovina between 1992 and 1995, and Kosovo between January 1999 and June 1999."
Despite Saakashvili's apparent recklessness and serious miscalculations, he is hardly another Milosevic. Mr Ó hAiseadha also appears to imply, in an effort to make a parallel with Russian actions in South Ossetia, that Kosovo's secession was due to US and other Nato powers' encouragement of "separatist rebels. . .to engage in warfare." I would encourage Mr Ó hAiseadha to read the report of the Independent Commission on Kosovo, which clearly outlines the origins of the conflict there. Throughout the 1990s, the Serbian regime engaged in a systematic and brutal campaign to forcibly expel ethnic Albanians, who responded with civil resistance. Such a campaign culminated in the killing of around 10,000 people.
The lack of support for the non-violent movement by Kosovar Albanians, with their exclusion from the Dayton agreement being the final humiliation, contributed to the developments which led to armed resistance and the conflict in 1998-1999. Fearing a repetition of Bosnia, the international community intervened.
Dr Paul Williams, managing director of the Public International Law and Policy Group, dismisses comparisons between Kosovo and South Ossetia: "There is no 'Kosovo precedent'. Every international situation must be considered individually on the basis of its history and the circumstances of the conflict, and sought-for solutions must best meet the interests of the peoples involved." - Yours, etc,
VALERIE HUGHES,
Cabra,
Dublin 7.