I write in support of the letters by Ben Nodal (August 16) and Glenn Williams (August 19).

I was living in the US in 2002 and many Americans commented on Britain's support following 9/11.

I pointed out that we in Britain have been living with terrorism for the past 30 years and that so many bombs have exploded that we have lost track of the number.

I then caused an embarrassing silence by asking these Americans three questions:

Have you any idea where the IRA obtained a large proportion of its funding?

Have you any idea how many IRA terrorists were given sanctuary by your courts deeming their crimes to be political?

Have you any idea who it was who originally trained, funded and armed the terrorists responsible for 9/11?

The fact is we are in this mess because governments on both sides of the Atlantic cannot see beyond the next election, or even the next month. Taking away people's rights of protest or to criticise the Government is not the way to end terrorism. That just makes the situation even worse.

This Government seems to have forgotten that the book Spy Catcher only became an international bestseller because the Government tried to ban it.

Anyone who ever read the book will know it was the most boring ever written.

The more you try to silence the protesters, no matter how much they praise the terrorist, the more they will be listened to.

The more you try to ban an organisation, the more recruits it will attract. The terrorist will never be beaten unless the governments on both sides of the Atlantic address the root cause of the problem.

-Stuart Bower, Upper Beeding