Sir, - I refer to the letter from Colm Breathnach (June 24th) in which he says: "A strange phenomenon has occurred. Suddenly the pro-Serb apologists are silent . . ." I wrote the following in a letter to you on May 25th. It was not published. I do not wonder why as I said at the end of the letter "I do not expect this letter to be published because its sentiments would upset our masters, the Americans."
Anyone who reads the signs can see that the Third World War is now on the horizon. The contestants are already shaping up. It will not be fought by the poor against the rich but by the rich trying to monopolise the world's dwindling finite resources, especially oil, against those who own these resources and their allies.
In the 1960s and 1970s there was a strong sense of injustice and people took to the streets in outrage at the known injustices of the time. All that is now gone. We now see countries being systematically destroyed and their inhabitants being murdered, terrorised and impoverished and most of us say: "They deserve it." None of us takes to the streets. We continue about our daily business and pretend that this has nothing to do with us and that it is not being done in our name.
We like to believe this notion that America and Britain are the modern knights in shining armour and that they are willing to spare no effort or expense to help those in distress thousands of miles away. Because we share in the spoils we blind ourselves to the fact that it is greed and selfishness which motivates them.
Both nations were founded on violent theft. Chief Sitting Bull said: "I have seen the white man make many promises but he has not kept any of them but one: he promised to take our land and he took it." Of course we know the British Empire from history, even though that history is now being revised.
It is no accident that America and Britain are trying to destroy Libya, Iraq and Serbia, to name but a few, because these countries stood or stand in the way of America's demand for total control of the world's supply of oil. Russia is now the last great oil resource not in American hands. It would not take a genius to add two and two and see that America and Britain are seeking a way of relieving Russia of its oil and, as both are expert in and have a long history of violent theft, we are now witnessing the first stages in the process with the war in Serbia.
Like the "Stealth" fighter, stealth is part of the process. Modern weapons are physical and psychological. America has specialised and spent billions on both. The most dangerous and the most insidious is the psychological weapon. It is currently used by "multinational" industries to take control of peoples lives in regard to work, living conditions and even religion. It is all cleverly done. That is why so many people now believe the ludicrous proposition that America and Britain, which have an unequalled history of exploitation even in the comparatively recent past, are now the world's best friends in keeping the peace and solving disputes. - Yours, etc.,
Edward Leane, Great Commons, Lusk, Co Dublin.