YP Letters: America stood with us in darkest hours of war and peace

I WAS surprised by Dr David Hill’s letter where he implies we blindly follow the US into what he calls their perpetual wars (The Yorkshire Post, May 11). I would think the opposite is more the case and probably millions of Americans asking why they ever became involved in British or European wars.

We had two world wars when we had to plead with the Americans to join us for our own survival. Then came the Cold War where the US bore the brunt of the defence of Europe and the rest of the world against the spread of communism.

Should we all have just stood back and let it happen? The consequence of that might have been a lifestyle for us today comparable to Cuba or North Korea.

Dr Hill can’t imagine how the Americans could bomb a peaceful people like the Vietnamese, but that suggests his visits to Vietnam were comparatively recent.

The fact is they didn’t and, to put it simply, they bombed an aggressive Soviet and Chinese-backed Viet Cong attack from the North.

It is not entirely clear what point he is making when referring to the anti-guerrilla experience of the British in Malaya being passed to the South Vietnamese president, but that is something I do know a bit about because I was doing my National Service in Malaya at the time.

On balance, and weighing up what might have been otherwise during all my 83 years, I still say God Bless America!

From: Colin Taylor, Media Support Officer (North East and Yorkshire), Amnesty UK.

MUCH criticism has been levelled at Leeds United for touring Myanmar recently and justifiably so.

Strange then to reflect that, just a couple of weeks earlier, the same Leeds United were deservedly being congratulated for taking a prominent part in Amnesty UK’s “Football Welcomes” initiative in support of refugees here.

Meanwhile the English Premiership has been won by a team drawing vast sums of money from a rich country that practices torture and executions, represses freedom of expression and fails to protect women from sexual violence. And a little research reveals that the UK and EU, now decrying the exodus from Myanmar, helped finance the training of the same Myanmar army and police force that have been implicated in the atrocities against the Rohingya.

It just goes to show that, when it comes to human rights, double standards are everywhere.