Sir, - Your short article (The Irish Times, July 25th) on the departure of Dennis Halliday from his post as UN humanitarian co-ordinator in Iraq did not do justice to the tragedy of that country. More Iraquis have died from sanctions-related illnesses than Cambodians died under the terror of Pol Pot. However, the word genocide is not yet being used in describing one of the 20th century's greatest human rights abuses.
While mass starvation is prevented by an excellent government food distribution system, the nation's health has declined rapidly and the dire lack of many essential medicines is causing untold unnecessary death. Meanwhile, the flight of the educated and the slow collapse of the education system condemns Iraq to an unstable future. Saddam may be a tyrant, but even he must be appalled at the carnage the UN is inflicting on his country.
Finally, it is worth noting that Clinton has been elected twice since Bush departed, Major has come and gone since Thatcher was fired, but Saddam is still there. Democracy is more effective than sanctions. - Yours, etc., Conor Perry,
Lower Mount Street, Dublin 2.