Sir, - The NATO states, because of their "humanitarian concern" for the people of Kosovo, bombed Yugoslavia. The NATO states, because of their "humanitarian concern" for the people of East Timor, have provided military training and massive amounts of armaments to the Indonesian military who are now killing the people of East Timor.
The NATO states, which together with Russia and China dominate the Security Council of the UN, were very slow to intervene seriously in East Timor.
The Irish Government by joining PfP is giving a clear signal that it wants Ireland to become a NATO state. Like the Indonesian Government, it intends to receive training from NATO states and will be buying massive amounts of military equipment from them. Maybe we are moving from the era of brown envelopes to an era of brown suitcases as we are integrated into the military-industrial complex without being asked if we agree.
Pana urges the people to demand a referendum on Ireland's proposed membership of NATO's PfP. We also call on people to support the AFrI walk against PfP on Saturday, September 23rd, which commences at 1 p.m. from Parnell Square, Dublin. - Yours, etc.,
Roger Cole, Chair, Peace & Neutrality Alliance, Blackrock, Co Dublin.