HEATHER Causnett dwells in the Land Of Nod (Letters, June 15).

She complains about the "farce" of the American presidential election and would have us believe that "the American psyche demands a national event out of the execution of a killer".

Mistress Causnett would not be surprised if a video of bomber McVeigh's last hours was made "so that the thrill-seeking American public can repeat its enjoyment of this unsavoury show at leisure".

This kind of insulting waffle is typical of all those self-righteous people who are ignorant of the true nature of the great American nation.

They talk of the American public as if they were a few thousand people in a banana republic, instead of the vast, diverse nation that inhabits the North American continent.

I had the privilege of serving, for a short time, with the American armed forces.

Except for an unfortunate tendency to talk too much I found them intelligent, well educated and, above all, generous.

Heather you are wrong; no nation can be dismissed with a few ill-considered words.

And few French people jeered at the guillotine: only the ignorant.

Robert Holmes

Thorganby

York.

...HEATHER Causnett's letter concerning Timothy McVeigh possibly reflects the views of numerous people in the UK. As a Brit living in the US during the past 14 months I have learnt a lot about the people with whom I now live and work.

The US judicial system demanded that Timothy McVeigh be given every opportunity to appeal his sentence, opportunities that were finally taken in the last months of his incarceration.

The media circus surrounding his death reflects the US citizens' repulsion for his act which killed 168 people. There is no "quiet way" in the US to handle an event of such magnitude.

Ken Creswick,

Eastern View Drive,

Falmouth,

Virginia, USA.

Updated: 11:04 Thursday, June 21, 2001