Sir, – Can I take issue with Jim Roche’s suggestion (August 15th) that airlifts for trapped Yazidis (and Christians) on Mount Sinjar should be carried out exclusively by the UN and NGOs? First of all, the UN reacts to these crises with little perceptible urgency; because military assistance is required, NGOs don’t have the capability to act alone. Mr Roche cites the United States and the UK’s ill-advised invasion of Iraq as a reason why they should be excluded. It is true that their invasion created a vacuum where sectarian hatred has festered, but that is not reason enough to exclude them. I am sure the people trapped on Mount Sinjar would agree.
I also disagree with his broad statement: “The response by the US of more air strikes at selective targets is a last desperate act of futility to mask its failed foreign policy.” Sometimes selective targeting can bring about positive results, as it did when the US bombed strategic targets in the former Yugoslavia, bringing to an abrupt end that particular war. Is he seriously suggesting that the Yazidi and Christian communities who have lived on that land for thousands of years should be left permanently displaced, and Isis left to continue its rampage? Each case should be judged on its merits. – Yours, etc,
JOHN BELLEW,
Riverside House,
Dunleer,
Co Louth