No alternative

GREG Sheridan's devastating response to Robert Manne ("Unbalanced view of war", 16-17/7) goes to the heart of matters much larger than the individual being described.

We know that Robert Manne, John Pilger, Robert Fisk, Noam Chomsky, Phillip Adams and Tariq Ali hate the Bush administration. But what do they and the socialist Left's favourite Tory, Owen Harries, want us to do? Do any of them seriously suggest that we should surrender and leave Iraq to Zaqawi, Afghanistan to the Taliban and give in to the demands of Osama bin Laden's worldwide Islamist caliphate? Disagreements about policy options are understandable, indeed commendable. But surrender in Iraq means death to hundreds of thousands of Iraqis.

Dr Douglas Kirsner

Caulfield North, Vic