Sir, - Those of us who are old enough to remember the "blitz" on London and other British cities in 1941 will be the first to realise that intensive bombing from the air is not likely to break the spirit of resistance to attack by a foreign enemy.
The bombing of Dresden and of Hamburg in 1944 may have contributed to the eventual defeat of Germany, but despite the horrific effects of such bombing the nation as a whole continued to fight on. Eventually, it was the steady onward progress of the occupation troops that finished the war.
The only exception is the bombing of Nagasaki, which, taken together with the entry of Russia into the war, caused Japan to surrender.
What did the recent bombing of Baghdad and other places in Iraq achieve?
It appears that the NATO countries are not prepared to use ground troops, so what do they expect to achieve by continuing an intensive aerial bombing campaign? How long will they keep it up? Suppose that Mr Milosevic and the Serbs continue to hold tough - and they are very likely to do so - what is the future strategy? Surely the use of atomic weapons is not being contemplated?
John Bruton hit the nail on the head when he said that this campaign was not thoroughly thought out in advance. - Yours, etc., Frank Murphy,
Old Quarry, Dalkey, Co Dublin.