Madam, -Kevin Myers's references to John Kerry's looks (An Irishman's Diary, September 2nd) were both childish and frighteningly shallow.
Claiming the democratic opponent had a "shifty face", "deceitful eyes" and an "ugly trap", and rather funnily contrasting this with what Mr Myers saw as a look of "perfect innocence" on Bush's visage, he went on to take as gospel a widely pilloried and highly biased account of Kerry's war record, written by men who admit to outrage at Kerry's testimony against the Vietnam war on his return from service.
Mr Myers grumbles that the allegations in this book haven't been reported widely in Ireland and only half-heartedly in America.
The reason is that any independent, intelligent journalist would recognise that their timing and the interests of those involved (including their ties to the Republican party) cast strong doubts on their reliability.
Perhaps that is why Mr Myers resorted to petty name-calling and infantile slights. - Yours etc.,
GARRET BAKER, Park Drive, Ranelagh, Dublin 6.
Madam, - Kevin Myers should get his facts straight before launching a tirade against John Kerry's Vietnam service based on the book Unfit for Command.
Kerry is a decorated Vietnam veteran, while his opponent dodged service by enlisting in the Texas Air National Guard. None of the accounts given in the book come from those who served with Kerry, although Mr Myers would have us believe so in his account. Those who served directly under Kerry's command speak highly of him and to this day express their support for the man.
In fact, fellow Vietnam veteran and Republican senator John McCain has called this campaign dishonourable and asked George W. Bush to condemn it, something the President has failed to do.
Mr Myers also says Kerry voted for the war in Iraq. He did, but at a time when the President, Vice-President, and Secretary of Defence all swore blind that they were absolutely certain that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.
Finally, if there is a charlatan it is the man who used the tragedy of September 11th, 2001 to satisfy his craving to get rid of Saddam Hussein, and deceived his own people to get popular approval to do so.
It is the man who does not think twice about sending young Americans to risk their lives in Iraq and Afghanistan when he was unwilling to risk his own. That man is the one who must be beaten in November's general election, and if John Kerry is the only alternative, my vote is going to him - even if he is not really Irish-American. - Yours, etc.,
RORY O'DONNELL, Quincy, Massachusetts, USA.
Madam, - Because I don't believe Kevin Myers would accept cash from the Bush campaign coffers, I can only read his Irishman's Diary of September 2nd as a classic satire on the purposeful, mean-spirited personal attacks on John Kerry by the Republican Party before and during its convention. Rather than arguing matters of substance, this campaign rhetoric is sloughing along in the gutter.
When it becomes improper for an American of any stature to speak out on behalf of peace, especially after having served in war, I say it's a sad day for America. But then, most of the world agrees it's altogether a sad time for America.
Sadly, for most of those veterans denigrating Kerry's word, the Vietnam war contained the most meaningful moments of their lives. They cannot tolerate a fellow countryman who speaks the truth about the futility of it, so they join the others in the gutter, denying his ability the only way they know. A sad day, indeed. - Yours, etc.,
JEANETTE F. DUGAN HUBER, Kinsale, Co Cork.