Madam, - When flying out of Shannon Airport recently, I came face to face with scores of American soldiers, many of them little more than children.
I wondered if they were en route to Iraq, and which among them would never see their loved ones again. I had to ask myself what sort of political leaders could be so cynical and debased to send out these callow youngsters to kill or be killed - and for what? For nothing more noble than an illegal imperial adventure: gone sour, a war of aggression based entirely on deceit and duplicity.
I thought of the words spoken by Hitler's Reich-Marshall, Hermann Goering, at his trial for war crimes at Nuremberg: "Naturally the common people don't want war, but after all, it is the leaders of a country who determine the policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders.
"This is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country".
There are hopeful signs however, that the American people are now beginning to realise how badly they have been duped, and are starting to ask awkward questions.
We in Ireland should be supporting their courageous anti-war protesters by demanding the closure of Shannon Airport to all warplanes. Ireland may indeed lose some revenue, but we will regain our honour and, hopefully, our neutrality. - Yours, etc.,
GEARÓID KILGALLEN, Crosthwaite Park South, Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin.
Madam, - Could it be that President Bush has led his country to Iraq and ruin? - Yours etc.,
ROBERT BATES, Wyvern, Killiney, Co Dublin.
Madam, - Conor O'Clery's front-page report in yesterday's edition on the killings in Nassiriya refers to the "the bloodiest single day in Iraq since the fall of Baghdad in April". But 85 Iraqis were killed and an estimated 200 injured when a car bomb exploded outside a shrine in Najaf on August 29th.
Terms such as "bloodiest" certainly catch the eye and the gut, but are being bandied about far too liberally by journalists covering Iraq.The facts are powerful and stark enough to stand without enhancement. - Yours, etc.,
RÓNÁN WHELAN, Haddington Road, Dublin 4.