Sir, - I feel absolutely overwhelmed with horror at the recent attacks on Afghanistan. On the one hand we hear American congressmen state that in fact they will probably never kill Bin Laden - the alleged perpetrator of the destruction of the Twin Towers - and on the other hand we see on an hourly basis a series of terrifying cluster bombs dropped on villages, Red Cross centres and hospitals in Afghanistan. Why? And for what purpose?
Are these people, who include babies of some months old, children, women and boys, supposedly associates of bin Laden and therefore apparently deserve to have these terrible injuries, both physical and psychological, inflicted on them? Will this in some way repay the appalling taking of life in the US on September 11th? Is this the example which the "civilised world - the democratic world" wants to set for the rest of the so-called non- civilised world?
And why is it that our Taoiseach, who was so immediate in his support of America after September 11th, is now so terribly silent? Are we still permitting US planes carrying cluster bombs to avail of our airports en route to their deadly destination?
I did not believe that our neutrality - which we apparently hold so dear - would ever allow us to accept such atrocities by our very silence on the subject. Why is there no public voice condemning US bombings in as strong a way as they originally pledged their support for action against terrorism. - Yours, etc.,
Marianne Gorman, Park Avenue, Sandymount, Dublin 4.