Letter: Nato on trial

Letter: Nato on trial

Sir: Please allow this expat American New Brit to thank Robert Fisk and The Independent for addressing the Nato issue so directly ("What is the point of Nato", 13 May).

There is every reason for Europe to take action in a European crisis. There is no reason why this action should be directed by American generals with no real concern for or understanding of the situation. Having once again failed to achieve the "cheap" victory through air power which has eluded every bomb-master since Goring, they will be whistled home, leaving behind a desert that not even the most brilliant spinners will be able to call peace.

The choice for Blair and the (less) United Kingdom is clear: will we be an important part of a self-determined Europe, able and ready to resolve European problems, or will we continue to be, in Orwell's telling phrase, "Airstrip One" of the American Empire?

JEREMY S SCANLON

Lapworth, Warwickshire