Madam, - George Bush and Tony Blair may be "busted flushes" in the lexicon of US politics but both now have a chance to redeem themselves during their remaining days in the sun.
Both once promised to address the fundamental issue of the Middle East - the Palestinian problem. Instead, egged on by Israel, they made Iraq and Afghanistan their targets and, of late, both Iran and Syria have loomed up as potential diversions.
Isolated yet still powerful, Bush and Blair can make some amends by wielding their joint clout to push at last for a just process and an equitable outcome to the glaring injustices perpetrated long ago by their predecessors and, of late, deepened by their own discredited policies.
The Palestinian question is the elephant in the sitting room. Islam's alienation from the West and the rise of Islamic extremism stem largely from this monumental wrong.
Redemption is still possible. It is, after all, supposedly central to the creed both politicians claim to share. - Yours, etc,
DERMOT and ELEANOR KELLY, Kennedies, Milford, Co Armagh.