Sir, - Jason O'Mahony (September 14th) writes that asking the US and UK governments not to sell weapons to Indonesia is asking them to make thousands of people unemployed. Let us be absolutely clear about this: we are talking about genocide here. What honest, ordinary, unemployed person would want a job at the expense of the lives of the men women and children of East Timor?
His argument that the ceasing of US and UK arms trading with Indonesia would be of no benefit, because Indonesia would buy elsewhere, leaves me cold. This is the argument frequently put forward by drug pushers to justify their activities: "If this 15-year-old didn't get his heroin from me, he'd get it from someone else."
With Mr O'Mahony's condemnation of the false morality of the UK and US governments I find myself in total agreement. It is indeed deplorable, as is our betrayal of the East Timorese people. - Yours, etc.,
Eleanor McEvoy, Dublin 8.