Sir, - Edward D. Rafferty's letter (January 8th) was quite correct and most thought-provoking. We do indeed need ideas which would compel the US government to alter its policy towards Iraq to one of peaceful negotiation rather than confrontation.
I would suggest the ideas of Denis Halliday as presented in The Irish Times of December 8th. The former UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Iraq suggested that the Irish government take a lead in proposing an international panel of jurists to review the resolutions of the Security Council and establish some constraints for the future.
A legal "watchdog" - an international authority higher than the International Court, to make sure the Security Council's actions would not conflict with the UN Charter, the Declaration on Human Rights and the Rights of the Child - I think this might be the sort of rational and constructive idea Mr Rafferty was looking for. Indeed Ireland could take a lead in restoring the UN's shaky credibility. - Yours, etc., Helen Delanley,
Cremorgan, Timahoe, Laois.