Madam, - I have simply had enough of people such as Maurice Conway (March 1st) advocating that we give poor old President Bush time to show us that his "freedom-spreading" agenda will pay dividends in the long run.
While I agree with his remarks about the relevance of Bush's appearance, smile or public-speaking abilities, I take issue with his proposition that we should adopt a "wait and see" stance to Bush's current policies, or that we Europeans should believe we are powerless in the face of supposed American indifference to us.
The motives behind Mr Bush's military forays into Afghanistan and Iraq remain highly questionable. Yes, as the freedom-loving hawks in the Pentagon constantly remind us, two detestable regimes have been removed. But for what purpose? A mere 11,000 US troops were committed to Afghanistan, despite one of the primary motives supposedly being the capture of Osama Bin Laden and the dealing of a deadly symbolic blow to terrorism. "Smoking" Osama out of his "cave" didn't work out too well, and he still is orchestrating terrorism, according to the ever-trustworthy US intelligence agencies.
The supposedly potent threat to American national security posed by Saddam Hussein and his arsenal of weapons amounted to nothing - an extraordinary episode which must not be allowed to fade away because a few Iraqis have been allowed to acquaint themselves with a ballot box. Mr Bush - "the visionary" - certainly seems to have had excellent foresight in entrusting his former business partners in the energy business with the task of harnessing both countries' natural resources. Does Mr Conway suggest that we wait a few more years to see if these anomalies iron themselves out?
The recent visits of Secretary of State Rice and Bush himself to Europe marked a clear recognition by the US administration of the need to renew relations. Far from the likes of France and Germany needing to rekindle the old anti-communism alliances with the US, it was Mr Bush's administration that was keen to enlist Nato's troops to help clear up the costly mess in Iraq.
Mr Conway portrays us Europeans as being impotent to influence an America that will put its own interests first. If by "putting its interests first" America means to continue spreading democracy across the Middle East to stem terrorism, then it will find out just how potent Europe has become.
France and Germany are now at the centre of a Union that has become a serious economic superpower and a real threat to a once-dominant US economy, and the two countries still have heavy punching-power in Nato. - Yours, etc.,
CONAL KEANE, Skerries, Co Dublin.