Madam, - I could, if I had a mind to, swap lists with Martin Moran (March 16th) and mention such names as Franco, Salazar, Papadopoulous, Papa Doc Duvalier, Somoza, Noriega, Pinochet, Marcos, Mobutu, Suharto, Zia Ul-Haq.
All of them enjoyed US political and financial sponsorship at various times in the past 60 years and were praised for their services to democracy and human rights by a succession of incumbents of the Washington White House. But if I did, I fear I might be misrepresented once again by Mr Moran.
I never mentioned the political colours of any demonstrations in Beirut or anywhere else in my original letter. My point was to suggest your columnist Mark Steyn was prematurely gleeful in predicting the outcome of political events in Lebanon to be in favour or US foreign policy when the situation had not been resolved and won't be for a long time to come.
I made no declarations for support for any particular group and don't intend to do so now, either.
However, I'm long enough around not to be intimidated by slanders of the right. The Big Lie technique, as perfected by Josef Goebbels and currently practised by Bush/Blair and their supporters doesn't impress me one bit. I'll continue to make my comments without reference to Mr Moran.
If Mr Moran wishes to place himself in line of descent from those who burned Giordano Bruno, and thousands of others, at the stake, silenced Galileo, and set up the Spanish Inquisition, then that is his concern. -Yours, etc.,
SEAMAS RATIGAN,
Our Lady's Road,
Dublin 8.