Madam, - Kevin Myers's Irishman's Diary of October 1st, which promoted the conspiracy theory about Yasser Arafat being a KGB creation, really shouldn't surprise us, either in the timing of its circulation or in that it was Kevin Myers who drew it to our attention.
Ariel Sharon's government has already decided that Arafat has to go, and the Bush administration has indicated a similar belief for some time. It is likely that the American public is being prepared for the removal of Arafat from the Middle East scene, and that portraying him as a Communist puppet will make his removal more acceptable to the American middle ground.
A large part of American public opinion would otherwise be uncomfortable with the removal of the popular (and, worse, democratic) leader of the Palestinian people (who happens to hold a Nobel Peace Prize). Suggesting that he was under the direct tutelage of Ceaucescu, one of the most evil tyrants of the Communist era will further undermine the credentials of Arafat and help to demonise him.
If the American public could be brought to accept a war in Iraq through lies (the procuring of uranium in Niger), half-truths (WMD) and innuendo (links to al-Qaeda), then why not use the same drill again to justify getting rid of Arafat? Similar tactics were used against Hugo Chavez in Venezuela, with Ari Fleischer publicly linking him to "narco-terrorists" in Columbia days before the American-backed coup, only for the (groundless) allegations to be retracted after the counter-coup put Chavez back into power. Misinformation and illusion are the weapons of choice of this US administration, which is fitting as it only came to power with the illusion of a democratic mandate.
Like many other people, I have become disappointed with the descent of Kevin Myers's articles from insightful and mercilessly critical analyses to the predictable, sycophantic Anglo-American cheerleading that they have become. Since 9/11, the US and Britain are the forces of "good", and those that aren't with them are against them and worthy of contempt.
Even the most flagrant examples of US self-interest in foreign policy are excused as "realpolitik", whereas the equivalent self-interest of other countries (e.g. France) is "cowardly" and "serpentine".
It is a shame that his articles have become so unbalanced, but on the positive side, those of us who don't receive Fox News can always tune in to An Irishman's Diary on the days when Kevin Myers is on a pro-US rant. - Yours, etc.,
ROBIN WILSON, Brook Street, Dundalk, Co Louth.