Letter: Baroness Thatcher's call to arms

Sir: When the first Bosnian Liberation Front bomb explodes in a French, German or British bus station, airport or hotel foyer, there will be outrage. 'What sort of people are these who can blow innocent civilians to pieces?' the headlines will scream. 'How can they possibly justify this appalling act?'

The answer is to be found on the faces of the children who stare from the back of the crammed UN lorries. The faces may be vacant, but the minds are full of the sight of dying relatives and the smell of decaying flesh.

Let us not delude ourselves that our sympathy for the vacant faces, sincere as it is, will magically wash away the bitterness, hatred and overwhelming desire for vengeance.

The choice for us is stark - either we lance this boil of injustice and depravity now or we spend 10 or 20 years draining the pus, with consequent spectacular acts of outrage.

Yours faithfully,

JAMES MULLAN

London, N21

14 April