Madam, - "It's been quite a time."
So spoke Donald Rumsfeld, reflecting on his six years as US defence secretary. Blasé. Irony-free. Unencumbered by guilt. An affront to common sense and decency. An insult to those bereft as a result of the invasion of Iraq . His ego undiminished by failure, he now seeks to bathe in Churchillian nostalgia. The awful truth is that he has bathed in blood. - Yours, etc,
PÁDRAIC HARVEY, Bray, Co Wicklow.
Madam, - With the climate change crisis, ongoing mass murder in Iraq and thousands of people dying every day from a lack of clean water we do not get many "good news" days. However, with the defeat of the Republicans in the US Congress, the Sandinista victory in Nicaragua, the election of a socialist to the US Senate and the dumping of Donald Rumsfeld, surely the 8th of November must qualify as one. - Yours, etc,
DIARMAID Mac AONGHUSA, Shankill, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Old Rumsfeld is gone but old Europe still remains. - Yours, etc,
DAVID DOYLE, Sandymount, Dublin 4.