BRENDAN BUTLER,
Sir, - For the US Defence Secretary to say that the prisoners being transported to Guatanamo Bay in Cuba from Afghanistan are not prisoners of war beggars belief. The US administration now wishes to alter the meaning of language when it chooses while the rest of the actors on the international stage nod their humble assent.
It now seems that when President Bush declared war on Afghanistan we were not reading his lips right.Language is now also a prisoner of the US - but is it a prisoner of war? - Yours, etc.,
BRENDAN BUTLER,
Pennock Hill,
Swords,
Co Dublin.
... ... * ... * ... * ... ...
Sir, - Considering America's double standards towards democracy and human rights pointed out by previous letter writers, it is only in conformity with US policy that Mr Donald Rumsfeld refuses prisoner of war status to Al-Qaeda captured during the American-christened "War on Terrorism". - Yours, etc.,
KEVIN CROKE,
Ringrone Heights,
Kinsale,
Co Cork.