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Sir: Why does Fraser Nelson want to call it an Afghan-Pakistan war when it is not? (‘Don’t mention the Afghan-Pakistan war’, 26 July). Such labels are not only dangerous but could irretrievably harm the cause by diverting the focus from the real issue and further enabling the enemy to exploit the situation by fanning dissent and creating a conflict of interests among the coalition partners.
Pakistan has done more and suffered more than all the other allies combined. More than 1,000 soldiers have lost their lives in the war against terror. Pakistan has deployed 90,000 troops along the Pakistan-Afghan border; 700 al-Qa’eda operators have been arrested and handed over. For countries unwilling to comprehend the realities on the grounds, blaming Pakistan for playing a double game has become a convenient way of evading their own weaknesses and failures. Pakistan has time and again explained the difficulties in the area. It is a daunting task for it effectively to man a 2,200km border in the absence of the necessary resources. To compound the problem, the enemy takes full advantage of the difficult, hilly, unexplored terrain, and the security surveillance on the Afghan side is not adequate.
The presence of two and a half million Afghan refugees in Pakistan means that the militants have a safe haven. Pakistan has repeatedly asked for their repatriation.
There is a growing feeling in Pakistan that it is being pushed to the wall. However, the new democratic government is firm in its resolve to root out terrorism and extremism from its soil. It has set out a multi-pronged strategy for the return of normality to the area.
In the present situation, options are limited. But what can work is a collective strategy evolved through a comprehensive consultation process. This is essential to save the alliance between the US, Pakistan and Afghanistan. Pakistan’s sensitivities will have to be understood for this strategy to succeed.
Imran Gardezi
Minister of Press, Pakistan High Commission
London SW1
A kit not a kat
Sir: Blair Worden in his review of The Kit-Cat Club (Books, 2 August) has got his kits and cats a little mixed-up when he suggests that ‘kat’ is slang for a small fiddle. It is actually the kit that is the fiddle. In Bleak House, Esther Summerson, on being introduced to Mr Turveydrop’s son, remarks that ‘He had a little fiddle, which we used to call at school a kit, under his left arm…’
Narjit Gill
London SE7
Progress in Cyprus
Sir: There has been progress in Cyprus since John Torode’s perceptive article (‘In Cyprus, warm words conceal dark intentions’, 2 August) was written. We are led to believe that the Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke with the Cypriot foreign minister, Marcos Kyprianou, on the sidelines of the recent Euro-Mediterranean conference. Mr Erdogan is reported to have said it was unacceptable for the Cyprus problem to remain unresolved and that he would do his utmost to reach a solution. In Turkey, the chief prosecutor’s case to ban Mr Erdogan and his party, the AKP, which was jeopardising the future of Turkey, and therefore Cyprus, failed.
Turkey’s message may be mixed, but her democratically elected president and prime minister have made the clear connection between Turkey’s own European Union prospects and a Cyprus settlement which would first reduce and then remove the Turkish troops now stationed in Cyprus. At last we can see Prime Minister Erdogan and President Gul, and in Cyprus the leaders of the two main communities, Demetris Christofias and Mehmet Ali Talat, and the leader of the main opposition party, Nicos Anastassiades, uniting to support a settlement.
There may well be those in both Cypriot communities whose vested interests lie in the status quo. However the overwhelming majority of Cypriots, including Turkish Cypriots, will benefit from a break with the past, especially from the substantial economic growth that will inevitably follow. If the pro-solution faction succeeds, we in the UK who care about Cyprus will be able to say ‘Cyprus’ without the next word always being ‘problem’. Citizens of Cyprus in both communities can enjoy their future together in a Cyprus with one sovereignty, one citizenship and political equality, in the new bi-zonal, bicommunal United Federal Republic of Cyprus.
Andrew Dismore MP
Vice Chair, Friends of Cyprus
London SW1
Vanished voices
Sir: I don’t know who has told Paul Johnson that ‘R.S.M’s English has gone’ (And another thing, 9 August) — ‘’orrible little man’ was, anyway, more a catchphrase of R.S.M. ‘Tubby’ Brittain’s when he ventured into films after his Sandhurst and Mons days — but as a former acting captain in the Royal Army Educational Corps, Johnson ought to know that the Coldstream Guards are ‘Coldstreamers’ or ‘the Coldstream’, but never ‘the Coldstreams’.
Allan Mallinson
The Cavalry and Guards Club, London W1
Sir: Paul Johnson would like to know what Lord John Russell sounded like. He need only listen to Lord John’s grandson and ward, Bertrand.
Robert Davies
London SE3
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