Sir, - I believe all right-minded individuals would concur that both the Omagh bombing and the attack on New York and Washington were vile and wicked acts. However, many commentators have chosen to analyse the events differently.
The former sparked a justified backlash against the perpetrators - those supposedly fighting for a united Ireland - with little, if any, examination of the "legitimacy" of their cause. With the attack on the US it is different, with many of the same commentators choosing to "explain" the atrocity in terms of the "fruits of US foreign policy", thereby lending credibility to the terrorists' cause.
Such double standards are, unfortunately, all too familiar in this country. - Yours, etc.,
Cian Twomey, Department of Economics, National University of Ireland, Galway.