Madam, - It appears that Karl Rove and others whose responsibility it is to package George W. Bush are determined to present the second-term president as a great statesman and man of vision in the manner of FDR and JFK. We are being led to believe that his apparently clueless behaviour in the first term was a sham, a mask to disguise a great intellect behind a folksy cowboy charm.
Now his handlers bring President Bush to Europe hoping to repair the damage done to the transatlantic alliance by a hasty policy of unilateral pre-emption. Mr Bush's mantra of "freedom and democracy" rings alarm bells in the ears of many in his audience as it usually means just the opposite: terror and anarchy, shock and awe.
The Bush camp now need Europe more than we need them. As Europe becomes a more cohesive and powerful entity, already making overtures to China and as the post-Cold War balance begins to shift, an overstretched America needs Europe's help, especially to rebuild Iraq, devastated by war and terror and demoralised and destabilised by the lack of any post-invasion strategy. Iraq's neighbours cannot but be alarmed and nervous. These times do indeed need a Roosevelt or a Kennedy. But when Mr Bush ascends the podium, affects his fixed lop-sided grin, and begins to mouth the words of his speechwriters, even quoting Camus, he appears, not as the great statesman hoped for, but rather as a schoolboy who has copied his maths homework from another and is terrified that the teacher will call him to the blackboard to demonstrate the problem to the class. - Yours, etc.,
BRIAN QUIGLEY, Sevitt Hall, Bettystown, Co Meath.
Madam, - "I brought up global warming", I've just heard George Bush say on 5-7 Live, speaking after his meeting with EU leaders in Brussels.
Indeed, Mr President, by several degrees. - Yours, etc.,
D. FLINTER, Tullyvoheen, Clifden, Co Galway.