Madam, - Brendan Coffey (September 9th) has a short memory when he decries the focus on US presidential candidates' records in "a war that ended 30 years ago".
Madam, - Brendan Coffey (September 9th) has a short memory when he decries the focus on US presidential candidates' records in "a war that ended 30 years ago".
After all, it was the Republicans who first dragged Vietnam back into American politics when they attacked Bill Clinton for being a "draft-dodger". Now their own favourite son has been shown to have an even more inglorious war record than Clinton, and the Democratic candidate a much more distinguished one, they have no right to complain.
Bush got the best of both worlds in the Vietnam era: he could party as much as any hippie, while family wealth and status protected him from the tough choices Kerry and Clinton had to make. "Dubya" could still retrieve the situation, though. He could admit he did inhale. - Yours, etc.,
TOBY JOYCE, Balreask Manor, Navan, Co Meath.