Sir, - There were two interesting articles juxtaposed in The Irish Times of April 12th. Medb Ruane outlined Bertie Ahern's U-turn on joining NATO's Partnership for Peace (PfP) and John Bruton explained his position on NATO's actions in Kosovo.
Mr Ahern's change of heart on the PfP issue is striking as he and his party stood on an anti-PfP ticket in the 1997 General Election. While manifestos and election promises are not set in stone (the 1981 General Election and Fianna Fail spending plans were a case in point), the Taoiseach's change of heart concerning one of his party's sacred cows of neutrality is remarkable. It seems that this administration will, with the backing of the main opposition party, lead this country into this NATO-backed club without a debate. It appears that such debate is being stifled. Is the Taoiseach frightened of his own grassroots on this matter?
On the other hand, John Bruton's article is an interesting critique of the NATO actions in the Balkans. His reasoning stands up to scrutiny on its own, but it does not sit well with his party's desire to join PfP.
As has been stated in your newspaper on many occasions, neutrality does not mean sitting on the fence. We should be condemning the illegal actions of NATO and demanding that the correct procedures are followed visa-vis securing a UN mandate for any actions of this nature. It is clear that the Kosovo crisis will be settled in the end, no doubt with a significant Russian involvement and Europe will have to pick up the pieces. Europe should put an end to being led by the nose by the US and negotiate a ceasefire, involving Russia, and stop this outrageous misery-causing action. - Yours, etc., Malachi O Sullivan,
Ard Mhuire Park, Dalkey, Co Dublin.