GEAROID KILGALLEN,
Madam, - I am sick of hearing that war against Iraq is now inevitable.
This is irresponsible talk and can only give comfort and support to the warmongers Bush and Blair who have no moral or legal justification to unleash the dogs of war against the Iraqi people, crushed as they already are under the weight of a decade of sanctions.
The US is essentially the driving force in implementing these sanctions, which have been responsible for the deaths of untold thousands of children. Mr Bush's blood lust is so virulent that he will, he says, flout the authority of the United Nations, if necessary, to attack Iraq.
George W. Bush's maverick nature has been seen on previous occasions, and it is not a pretty sight. He showed his disdain for international opinion in selfishly refusing to commit America to the Kyoto Protocol on climate change. This arrogance can likewise be seen in relation to the establishment of an International Criminal Court, with the US refusing to accept that its military personnel should be subject to it.
Mr Bush arrogates to himself the role of world policeman-in-chief, while refusing to be subject to internationally accepted norms and responsibilities. Anyone who has tuned in to the Voice of America in recent months will know the amount of invective and bile that spews daily out of the White House against countries unlucky enough to incur the selective wrath of Uncle Sam.
Is President Bush the type of international leader that our Government should be supporting, let alone granting landing rights on our neutral soil? It is time to call a halt to the use of Shannon airport by military personnel and weapons of war. The people of Ireland have given no mandate to Mr Bertie Ahern to invite warmongers to our shores, and should forcefully voice their disapproval.
There are heartening signs that the world's "silent majorities" are taking to the streets and making their voices heard. Now is the time for the Irish silent majority to how solidarity with courageous American anti-war demonstrators.
International "people power" can spike the guns of warmonger Bush and his weak minded allies. If we do not act now, we, like our Government, will be complicit in the needless deaths of thousands of innocent people. If we do not want blood on our hands we must stand up and be counted. - Yours, etc.,
GEAROID KILGALLEN,
Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
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Madam, - It is most odd that Billy Fitzpatrick, chairperson of the Irish Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (January 20th), should decry the upcoming war whose declared purpose is to prevent Saddam Hussein from acquiring nuclear weapons.
Is Mr Fitzpatrick afraid CND may have to disband if there is too much nuclear disarmament?
Meanwhile, Mary van Lieshout of "US Citizens in Ireland for Alternatives to War" also decries the war but provides no "alternatives to war". What is it with these organisations? - Yours, etc.,
TONY ALLWRIGHT,
Killiney,
Co Dublin.
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A chara, - I am sick and tired of anybody who opposes war in Iraq being branded as pro-Saddam. Nobody I know supports Saddam Hussein. Andrew McNulty (January 16th) tells us that Saddam is not a victim, and I couldn't agree more.
The victims of war will be the people of Iraq; they were the victims in the first Gulf war, the continued US/UK bombing campaign and the economic sanctions which, according to UNICEF, have caused the deaths of 500,000 Iraqi children, while having little effect on Saddam himself. These are the people war critics are defending, not Saddam Hussein. - Is mise,
MARTIN FAHY,
Galway.