Madam, - Once again our esteemed Western leaders are driving forward with their quest for democracy and freedom by welcoming that democratic and free society Libya back into the international fold.
Coincidentally Royal Dutch/Shell has also started negotiations regarding Libya's vast reserves of gas. Call me a cynic but would I be correct in interpreting Blair/ Bush's definition of "freedom and democracy" as actually meaning "dividends and profit"? It seems the same criteria also apply to the likes of China and Saudi Arabia.
We are told constantly that we have to crush the scourge of terrorism as it is a threat to democracy.
This is undoubtedly true but unfortunately I'm not sure who will get there first - the terrorist or the interests of Western multinational corporations who have been subtly undermining democracy around the world for decades by forcing through their business plans in the guise of politics.
Al-Qaeda is essentially a bunch of fundamentalist fanatics who are totally dependent on easily led disenfranchised Muslims. The tactics the West (led by John Wayne himself, Mr Bush) are currently employing are actually helping al-Qaeda in the same way that the pruning of a tree helps the tree to widen its spread. There is no attempt to get at the root causes which drive ordinary people to become the pawns of the likes of bin Laden.
Democratic societies were initially formulated for the freedom of expression of humans, and ironically enough the US constitution and French Revolution summarise the goals of democracy perfectly.
The unfortunate thing is that these goals have been hijacked and are being used to drive profit before people.
As long as the dividend is put before the person, terrorism will be with us. - Yours etc.,
BARRY WALSH, Church Road, Blackrock, Cork.