Sir, - In recent weeks we have heard much from NATO about human rights abuses committed against Albanians inside Kosovo and how it is determined to bring Milosevic and his henchmen to justice.
This is all very well, but meanwhile precisely nothing is being done to protect the ethnic Albanians remaining in Kosovo who are desperately trying to reach the safety of the Albanian border. Even worse, NATO bombs have resulted in the deaths of more than 60 innocent people.
When is it going to dawn on the great minds at work formulating NATO policy that an international force must go in, and the sooner the better, purely on humanitarian grounds? These people have been crying out for protection and what does the international community do? Send in the bombers!
If the tragedy of a convoy of refugees being hit by NATO bombs proves anything it is that you cannot police a war such as this from the air. It is like trying to crack a nut with a sledgehammer - damage is inevitable.
By continuing with this policy of air attacks NATO is failing to do the most important job of the moment, that of protecting human life. Yet again I ask the Irish Government to have the courage to use its influential voice, which is well respected on the international stage, to criticise the NATO actions and to spearhead the call for a ground force to be sent in with the sole aim of protecting an innocent civilian population. - Yours, etc.,
John O'Shea, Goal, Dun Laoghaire, Co Dublin.