Does Leslie Robertson not realise how dangerously simplistic it is to identify the US as being "the terrorist" (Letters, September 20)?

Such a view simply serves to distract from the real issue at the heart of such an atrocity, namely the terrorists whose intention it was to kill civilians and cause nothing but destruction, fear and death.

Mr Robertson proceeds to blame the US for providing Israel with weapons which have killed "stone-throwing boys". To suggest the Israeli army is up against little more than "stone-throwing boys" is to ignore the images of carnage and misery wrought by, among others, Palestinian suicide bombers bent on nothing more than the destruction of peace.

The Palestinians are also equipped with rifles, many given to them by the Israelis at a time when Israel naively believed the Palestinians to be genuinely interested in making steps towards a peace agreement.

Israeli soldiers are also "boys" enlisted to defend their country at the age of 18. Israel has, in fact, been acting in self-defence against the Palestinians who, like many of Israel's neighbours, have demonstrated aggressive and extremist behaviour and have not allowed for proper discussion and negotiation to take place.

The fact the US - or Israel, for that matter - is technologically and militarily superior does not make it the terrorist. It is terrorist organisations that send suicide bombers and breed fanaticism and hatred that need to be stopped.

-Jeffrey Barton, Ashurst Drive, Saltdean