Harold E Parkin (Letters, September 25) tries to turn facts on their heads by distorting them.

Of course the US, like nearly every other country, has done things of which it should be ashamed but it has also played a vital role in preserving the freedom and democracy we can all too easily take for granted.

Again, while Ariel Sharon would not be my first choice for Prime Minister of Israel, we must not forget it was the Palestinian leaders who, by rejecting the very reasonable peace deal put forward by Ehud Barak, ensured his election.

The Palestinian people do indeed suffer, not least because they have a leadership which both now and in the past insists on all or nothing and inevitably ends up with nothing.

-Adele Rose, by email