TOBY JOYCE,
Sir, - Vincent Browne makes his anti-American bias glaringly obvious in his column of January 2nd.
The only wars he singles out are wars in which the US has inflicted civilian casualties. Yet the wars he mentions with particular venom (the current Afghanistan conflict, the Gulf war and Kosovo) were relatively light in civilian casualties if judged against other conflicts since 1970. Even collectively, the death toll is small compared with the Soviet-Afghanistan war of 1979-1989 during which 1.5 million people died, 1 million of them civilians.
Collectively, well over 1 million civilians died in the Iran-Iraq war (1980-88), the last India-Pakistan war (1971), the Mozambique civil war (1975-95) and the Yugoslav wars before NATO involvement (1991-95).
These figures are from the Scientific American of June 2000, an issue in which the magazine counted no fewer than 60 major and minor conflicts in progress around the globe, just under 50 per cent of them in Africa.
Clearly the headline, "Civilian death toll is not big news", should have a rider in Mr Browne's case: "unless the US can be blamed". - Yours, etc.,
TOBY JOYCE,
Balreask Manor,
Navan,
Co Meath.
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A chara, - Thanks to Vincent Browne and your newspaper we can see what the so-called "war on terrorism" has achieved: almost 5,500 civilians dead, this time by Bush-directed war planes, and as this figure is calculated only from news agency reports, it is safe to assume that by the time the US ceases its misguided bombing crusade the number dead in Afghanistan will be more than double the number of those killed in America on September 11th.
While we here in Ireland may feel helpless while this carnage continues we should at least do what we did back in September. When is our national day of mourning for the people of Afghanistan? - Is mise,
KEVAN MURPHY,
Ceannabó,
Ballinamore,
Co Leitrim.
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Sir, - Vincent Browne outdoes even himself in his January 2nd column on the civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Even assuming his information is correct (and I certainly take issue with his mathematical leap regarding the deaths from December 7th onwards), what does he expect will happen in a war situation?
What would he have the US do? Most even semi-impartial observers acknowledge that the US has made efforts to keep civilian casualties down, within the limitations of technology and the "fog of war".
Does he believe that these civilian deaths are deliberate? If so, why not say so instead of slithering around the topic? I think Deaglán de Bréadún's recent reference to Sean O'Faolain's phrase "auto Anti-Americanism" is apposite here.
Yes, I know, Vincent, some of your best friends are American. God help us, I find myself starting to see Niall O'Dowd's point. - Is mise,
KEVIN HAYES,
Monte Sereno,
California,
USA.
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Sir, - I believe that it is never acceptable to kill. I believe that all life is sacred. I believe that only through negotiation are political problems ever solved. I believe that the only way to stop killing is to stop killing. I don't accept the term "collateral damage". I believe that every mother cries if her child is killed or injured wherever in the world she may be.
These very beliefs have been castigated as being anti-American. What, then, do those who are Pro-American believe? - Yours, etc.,
KATHLEEN FLYNN,
Pinebrook Heights,
Clonsilla,
Dublin 15.
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Sir, - it is impossible for me to deny that the US has the right to defend its people. It is also impossible for me to condone the deaths of thousands of innocent people as a direct result of US bombing. Haven't the lives of innocent Afghan victims the same value as the lives of innocent victims from America, Europe or anywhere else in this world? - Yours, etc.,
ORLA McGRATH,
Stoneybatter,
Dublin 7.