BRIAN KELLY,
Sir, - The first anniversary of the attack on the Twin Towers is imminent. With all the media attention this event will receive, I would just like to make the following observations. Firstly, an estimated 3,000 people died in this atrocity. In response to this slaughter America bombed Afghanistan in an intense and sustained military campaign which lasted for weeks and killed three times as many civilians as were killed in New York. Yet in the weeks which follow how much coverage will these deaths receive in our national newspapers and on our airwaves?
Are the lives of Afghans less important than those of Americans? I realise we have a long affinity with and regard for our Atlantic neighbours, but let us not forget that many other ordinary people suffered greatly as a result of this awful tragedy.
On a less contentious issue, I do wish people would stop referring to the events of last September as "9/11". This appalling phrase diminishes the most despicable terrorist act in recent times to what sounds like the name of a grocery store. - Yours, etc.,
BRIAN KELLY,
Sandymount Road,
Dublin 4.