CIARAN McKENNA,
Sir, - Vincent Browne has performed a valuable service in drawing attention to the work of Prof Mark Herold on civilian casualities in Afghanistan (Opinion, January 2nd). In the light of evidence gathered by Pro Herold, and the inexorable daily civilian deaths, the woolly thinking that informs much pro-war sentiment in Ireland is exposed.
It stands to reason that if one applauds the principle of bombing Afghanistan as the best response to September 11th, then one should be able to applaud individuals acts of bombing. If the US war on terror is just and moral, then, to take one example highlighted by Mr Browne, the killing of 100 civilians in Qalaye Naizi must also be just and moral. Supporters of the war must begin to face up to the implications of their stance and be prepared to point out the justice and morality of each instance of bombing listed by Mr Browne. Otherwise their increasingly ill-tempered criticism of opponents of the war will be revealed as the worst kind of kneejerk pro-Americanism, unwilling to accept the grim reality of the "war on terrorism". - Yours, etc.,
CIARAN McKENNA,
Bryanstown Manor,
Drogheda,
Co Louth.
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Sir, - The US may be many things, but by no stretch of the imagination can it be called a "beacon of democracy" (Martin Mansergh, December 27th). Ask any of the millions who suffer under viciously corrupt governments supported, in some cases propped up, by the US. To take a recent uncontroversial example, the newest US ally, Uzbekistan, is a Stalinist dictatorship, where the opposition is shot, imprisoned or simply disappears.
Let there be no mistake about it: spreading democracy has nothing to do with US foreign policy. - Yours, etc.,
JOHN MURRAY,
Department of Russian,
Trinity College, Dublin 2.