Madam, - Joe Murray, co-ordinator of Afri (October 1st), trots out the tired though familiar objections to the Iraq war (neglecting as usual that it delivered the "serious consequences" promised unanimously in UN Resolution 1441), and to the current occupation.
"Internationalising the occupation would not help the Iraqi people," he says, but "would, rather, buttress and lend a veneer of legitimacy to an illegal invasion."
So, Mr Murray, please tell us what would help the Iraqi people. Not internationalising the occupation and leaving it to the Americans, British, Poles, etc? An immediate handover to Iraqis? Which Iraqis, and on what basis?
How about immediate withdrawal? Would he advocate leaving the mutually antagonistic Shi'ites, Sunnis, Ba'athists, Saddamists, Kurds, Assyrians, Turkomen and others to arrange their affairs according to the Iraqi traditions of guns, bombs and warlords?
Can we please have a stop to moans and hand-wringing about Iraq unless accompanied by realistic alternative proposals that will help the unfortunate Iraqis rebuild their country and not make their current difficulties worse? - Yours, etc.,
TONY ALLWRIGHT, Killiney, Co Dublin.