Madam, - When watching the Dunphy Show on TV3 last Friday, I was amazed to hear Gerry Adams say he hated the expression "dirty war" as in his opinion all wars were the same. Maybe I could enlighten him a little. The Geneva Convention, which governs the conduct of warring nations, forbids the following:
(a) The deliberate targeting and murder of civilians (as in pub bombings etc).
(b) The torturing and murder of non-combatants (such as Mrs Jean McConville and others).
(c) The maiming of prisoners by shooting their ankles, knees, elbows etc.
(d) The murdering of captured enemy soldiers.
Perhaps the above are some of the reasons why civilised people tend to refer to the war in Northern Ireland as a "dirty war". I believe that with Gerry Adams the old adage may apply. There are none so blind as those who will not see. - Yours, etc.,
BRIAN TOLAN, Templeogue, Dublin 16.