Madam, - Are we in the West being placed in jeopardy by media which are becoming a highly effective fifth column for international terrorism? In these islands, at least, there is a distinctly anti-Bush/Blair media bias. The scepticism about US-UK coalition policy or statements contrasts with the ready acceptance of the conspiracy theories of the anti-war lobby. No self-serving US intention is too base, no hypocrisy or stupidity to great to be aired and granted credence by most of the media.
There is an unrelenting focus on coalition casualties and setbacks in Iraq, almost amounting to a running scoreboard, and constant comparisons to Vietnam, but little or no coverage of the progress made in restoring services and schools. There is also little reference to the long suffering of Iraqis under the corrupt and despotic Saddam.
All of this must be music to the ears of Bin Laden and his fellow travellers, the people who perpetrated the carnage of September 11th, Bali, the UN and Red Cross headquarters in Baghdad, and now Istanbul. Doubtless their intent is to inflict many more such atrocities.
George Bush didn't instigate those terrorist attacks, and capitulation on Iraq will not end them. There will be no truce with Bin Laden & Co because there are simply no terms which can be negotiated.
There is a clear need for multi-track solutions to tackle terrorism and its root causes, with engagement and firm commitment from all the leading nations of the industrialised world, and support from as many Muslim and third-world countries as can be enlisted. However, for the UN is to take a leading role it needs to be fundamentally restructured. Under its current charter it is too slow, ineffectual and fragmented to provide any real protection against forces that respect no civilised rules.
I am not advocating a free ride for US policy; there are many aspects of it which can and should be constructively challenged. However, a more balanced and intelligent discourse is required if we are to avoid giving succour to our common enemy, the terrorists. - Yours, etc.,
PETER MOLLOY, Haddington Park, Glenageary, Co Dublin.