TREVOR TROY,
Madam, - Tom Wright's article of October 29th was both refreshing and timely as Ireland may well have to make a difficult decision with far-reaching consequences. It was a classic realist study of the options facing this State. His assertion that Ireland should vote according to how the world is, and not how we might like it to be, is stunningly clear and obvious.
Saddam Hussein is an appalling man with a dreadful record. By voting against his removal, we are condemning the Iraqi people to more years of terror and in the process we will alienate the US. All the talking in the UN will not save the Iraqi people; only Hussein's removal will do that, and if that means American force, then so be it.
In the wake of September 11th, the US will not see our ideological aversion to warfare as humanitarian. It will instead see it as a stab in the back by a State which has been the beneficiary of vast quantities of US investment. At which point we will see a dramatic fall-off in further investment, which will instead go to more "friendly" states. On other issues in which we might need US assistance, will the doors of the State Department be open to us? Or will we instead be treated as pariahs?
The interests of Ireland and the Iraqi people will best be served by supporting the US and not those for whom war against any dictator, no matter how savage, will always be wrong.
Irish opposition to the US will not benefit the Iraqi people and will damage our future. - Yours, etc.,
TREVOR TROY, Athboy, Co Meath.
... ... * ... * ... * ... ...
Madam, - May I suggest that those readers following this topic take the time to look up the meaning of the word "neutral"? According to my battered copy of the Oxford English Dictionary, supporting one side in a dispute runs contrary to the concept of neutrality.
If Ireland is indeed a neutral country, the only way to express and manifest that neutrality is to abstain from voting on this matter.
So are we or are we not neutral? - Yours, etc.,
ORLA HOULIHAN, Crosthwaite Park West, Dún Laoghaire, Co Dublin.