Madam, - Peter Mew (October 4th) hopes that "global public opinion against US aggrandisement. . .may rise up and drown the dragon". Rigid and blind anti-Americanism lapsed shortly after the attacks of September 11th, 2001, but has once again regained its stronghold in the public mindset.
Let us make no mistake: the US is an imperfect force that has had an imperfect influence upon the world. The jury is still out on Iraq, and the recess may well last several years. But on the Kaiser, upon the Nazis, upon the USSR, upon Yugoslavia and upon Liberia the verdict is all too clear. May God bless America! - Yours etc.,
ROBBIE ROULSTON,
Ardmeen Park,
Blackrock,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - Peter Mew says the avowed aim of successive American administrations has been global domination, that this has entailed the savage torture and slaughter of millions, and that the trend continues.
I do not know what planet Mr Mew hails from. However, if he were an Earthling and a European with any understanding of world history he would know that Europe's own history is mired in conquest, blood and shame. He would also know that in the 20th century Europe, and not just Europe, had reason more than once to be forever grateful for American help, freely given. Even the oft-criticised and dreadful destruction of native American peoples and cultures in the 19th century was perpetrated frequently, lest we forget, by European immigrants to the US.
Perhaps reasonable, merciful, civilised European - and other - immigrants to the United States become terrible, heartless American dragons. But I doubt it. Rather, I think that many Europeans have become so comfortable, so soft and so forgetful under American protection and generosity through more than half a century that their brains have become addled and their world view skewed.
And yes, I am happy to say that I am among those - and I do hope we are legion though I sometimes fear not - who believe that America's contribution to the world has been and continues to be generally benign and that the available alternatives are unthinkable. - Yours, etc.,
MICHAEL MEADE,
Shantalla Road,
Galway.