I READ with dismay the old excuses used in Neil Dobson's arguments (January 23) about why we shouldn't be anti-American.

History can be used to justify anything and I would no more thank an American for our 'liberation' than I would blame a German for Hitler.

To use this Second World War analysis in 2003 is nothing short of pathetic, if predictable.

Since Mr Dobson has such a good knowledge of history he will know that America is one of the most brutal countries in the world. It is in the knowledge of their 'war crimes' that the Americans refuse to support the Hague tribunal, because they do not want former presidents dragged into court to take their rightful place in jail.

That's how much the Americans love freedom.

Isn't it ironic that America talks about a "war on terrorism" when only a short time before they were bombing a democratically-elected leader in Yugoslavia for protecting his country against brutal Albanian terrorist insurgents?

The Hague is only for those who lose the war, it seems. The civilians murdered in Serbia will never see justice.

Phil Howden,

Marmian Drive,

Stockton-on-the-Forest, York.

Updated: 11:40 Tuesday, January 28, 2003