W H Diment once again exhibits a frightening lack of understanding, let alone loyalty, when writing about the Islamic issue (Oct 6).

The deaths of more than 3,000 innocents in American, London and Madrid at the hands of terrorists were horrific crimes. The response from Messrs Bush, Blair and others was an attempt to remove the perpetrators of such evil and those who hide and support them.

This is an enemy which wants to inflict Islam on the world and has no conscience about how it is done.

The vast majority of the deaths in the countries which Mr Diment listed were inflicted by Saddam, the Taliban and the terrorists on their own countrymen, blown up, gassed or massacred, for daring to vote, work for the police, being a woman wanting an education, or simply for belonging to the wrong variant of being a Muslim.

Of course, there were innocent deaths, sadly many of them being oppressed people crying out for help from more civilised lands.

Using Mr Diment’s logic, perhaps we should have just stood back and let Hitler have France. I prefer to belong to a country which knows the difference between right and wrong and is prepared to pay the price to defend it.

John Pritchard
New Road
Hadleigh