Let's measure Dr Williams' courage. He speaks to a Muslim publication and slams America. Not very courageous. His comments on mistreatment of Christian minorities in Muslim countries are few and very vague. Not very courageous. When faced by an Anglican diocese which decides to elevate a practising homosexual to the post of Bishop, he takes an agonizingly long period for reflection, and postpones taking the needed hard decision. Not very courageous. So Dr Williams, perhaps you should resign, as Anglicans need a leader with courage and vision. Have you thought of taking up taxi driving?

R P Gregory, Uxbridge,

The Archbishop is blissfully unaware of the Bengal famine of 1942. The events leading to the famine have been analysed by the Nobel Laureate Amartya Sen (Development As Freedom, Oxford University Press). Over a million people lost their lives when the British Government, through negligence and possible deliberate neglect, created an artificial famine by removing the harvest from the people who had grown it in their fields. The crops had grown well but people died on the streets. Indeed, the food may have been used to feed the Army, and the people of Europe. The British Government was thus possibly discriminating between Indians and other (mostly white) people, on an issue which affected human survival, on a mass scale. Sen has shown India, once free, has never witnessed a calamity on this scale, despite occasional severe food shortages. The US Government - wrong as it is in invading Iraq - cannot be be accused of having contributed to anything on this scale.

Somnath Mukhopadhyay, Dundee, United Kingdom

Stef from Crewe, if the Americans, by which you seem to mean the Bush & Co. and their soldiery, are defending our freedoms, or even their own, it's only because they are failing in what they are trying to do. Their attitude is the same as William Calley's after the My Lai massacre--"We had to destroy the village in order to save it." Their aim is not freedom but domination, as witness their wiretapping etc. at home and and their indiscriminate violence against civilians in Iraq, worthy of the Nazis in occupied Europe. God save us from defenders like those.

Arthur Morgan, Rogers, Arkansas, USA

If only Williams were brave enough to denounce the would-be imperialists in his own church, like Venables and Akinola. Instead, he refuses to say a word about things that he might actually be able to do something about.

Jay, Panama City, Florida, USA

If we have got to wait for numerous 'red neck' right wingers in the US who regularly make contributions to this paper to be educated on the history of the Middle East and Palestine, (the forced occupation & resettlement of the local Palestinian population to accomodate Jewish settlers from around the world) we are in for a very long wait! The injustices and suffering imposed on the area to this day by the US and meekly supported and condoned by western 'democracies' by their silence is damming to our claims of being civilised modern humane societies. By inferring that Islam is uncivilised, barbaric and the religion of terrorism etc., after examining our own Christian heritage is indeed hypocritical. Dr. Rowan Williams is right in his analysis, the historic facts and injustices of US/Western/Christian interference in Islamic Countries around the world are undeniable, and available to all, my question is why is the Christian political leadership in the West in denial of the truth?

Kevin Sullivan, London, UK

It is clear that Dr Rowan Williams is trying to score points with the muslims by critisizing their arch enemy the USA. Is he perhaps trying to move the focus off his own internal problems in the church. Dr Williams, as a fellow christian, rather concentrate on the issues facing christians like political correctness and celebration of our religious festivals. Leave the Americans to defend our freedoms

Stef, Crewe, UK

I believe Archbishop Rowan is right on that the American Government is not doing a great job on Iraq. I beieve that Archbishop Rowna in fact should a have a metting with Pres. Bush about how he is handling the situation in Iraq and then meet with other world leaders to assist in the U.S aid in Iraq.

Eric John Kaufmann, Washington D.C., The United States Of America

Rowan olde boy I think you have lost it. Stick to the semi-silent mr. bean movies we all prefer. You lose your audence when you speak. However this is a very good comedic pratfall. My apologies to Rowan Atkinson.
US is‘worst’ imperialist: archbishop Williams, you can't be Serious.
Do Muslim islamofacists must meet your higher Christian standard? I guess they do. Along with Soviet Russia, Communist China. Oh well there where a lot of british moles back then also.

John, Thousand Oaks, USA

So the head of a 1st century mythology cult, repsonsible for countless episodes of murder and torture throughout history, is pointing fingers at others? This is Comedy Channel, right?

Edwin Moore, Birghton, Sussex.,

The Archbishop is quite wrong to imply that British direct rule over India, which led to the collapse of Indian economy through imposed tariffs goods, was benevolent. Noam Chomsky points out that Dhaka as a city became impoverished in this period.

Furthermore, the USA has not got an empire but a series of alliances. The USA has most of its alliances with democracies.

It did make a strategic error in Iraq - precisely because it is not the only 'superpower'. There are in fact multiple stakeholders in the world. The USA is right to promote democracy - and it is itself a democracy.

Why is the Archbishop so soft on dictatorships - surely they are wrong whatever the religious majority in a country. This is a liberal backing illiberal regimes in the name of religion.

The Archbishop is creating an imperialist myth about India benefiting from the British Empire. Figures show a fall and then crash of the Indian economy - from a global economic superpower to a marginal third world country.

A Singh, London , UK

Not very brave, to speak out now, five years after the event. The archbishop would have been called brave if he had spoken up before the war, when he might have influenced the outcome. Now he's simply jumping on a bandwagon.

William, London,

Hiroshi Akira:

Americans did not kill millions with the atomic bombs in Japan; it was about 200,000 died from the bombings by the year 1950. In fact, the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki had less casualties than the battle of Okinawa. That was one of the factors that tilted the US to using the atmoic bomb on Japan. The civilian death toll in Okinawa was 140,000. The Japanese military was using civilians as human shields at the start of the fighting, then urged the civilians to commit suicide when America began winning the battle. Additionally, the military began executing their own civilians to prevent their surrender or to steal food from them. It was the Americans who tried to prevent the high civilian causality rate in Okinawa, with little sucess. If America continued with the invasion of Japan instead of using the two atomic bombs, each battle would have ended the same way leave the population of Japan just a fraction of what it was at the end of the war.

C. Reb, Jacksonville, FL, USA

In response to Stanley in Haifa.
The Archbishop was critical of the American and Israeli state, NOT religion. So why are you talking about anti Muslim views?
He was critical of Pakistan (a Muslim country), I as a person of Pakistani origin fully accept his analysis of the plight of Christians in Pakistan.
So please, please do not mix religion with country.

Ahsan, Scotland,

Thank God a Good man speaks out where are the others.

mark , Newcastle, England

Archbishop speak all truth. He is a very good man. I wish he also tell about American killing millions with nuclear weapons on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. We still feel much much pain. Very sad.

Hiroshi Akira, nagasaki, japan

Is in not ironic that the Archbishop can write in a Muslim publication criticism of the US and Israel in the knowledge that he can present his views without fear of violent attacks bot physical and verbal. Just image the reaction if he were to present anti muslim views in a secular publication. There would be riots threats against the publishers and very probably threats to the life of the Archbishop as shown by past reactions. So easy to write anti US sentiments, lets see who is brave enough to write anti muslim articles

stanley , Haifa ,

The picture is now becoming clearer. Brown not wishing overtly to critcise US policy encourages the leader of a failing church to do so.
The Archbishop would do better to concentrate on proclaiming the word of God rather than the word of Brown.

jwilliams, Birmingham,

Well said Dr Rowan Williams - the Americans should learn to buy their oil at the market rate as oppsosed to trying to steal in in foriegn lands or do deals with some of the worlds worse despots.

If America had any integrety in it's foreign policy it would demand Israel comply with all it's outstanding UN resolutions and go back to it's 1967 borders in return for Arab recognition (as per the Saudi peace plan) - there is no need for the sham of a so called "peace conference" simply aimed to throwing a desheviled carrot at the Arabs to get support for US terror bombing of Iran.

Michael J, Leicester, UK

God Bless Archbishop Canterbury a million times for his bravery and daring. If only the whole world were like him !!!!

SAS, New York,

How strange that so many politicians who seek to eradicate religion from society now lionize Williams because he supports one of their cornerstone platforms.

Bob Evans, Anaheim, California

Williams, brings back memories of 1939, Chamberlein, "Peace in our time"! Without American help we would be speaking Japanese or German now. Churchill saw Hitler for who he was ,when the rest of the world was saying give peace a chance.9/11 was an endeavour to change the Western world to adopting the Koran and the Muslim way of life and the behaviour of Islamic leaders like Saddam Hussein etc. is that what Williams the so called leader of the Episcopel church endorses or does he like Chamberlein think that tyrants listen to reason. Its akin to appeasing the bully in the school yard, it doesn"t work. America is the most generous ,kind ,concerned,nation on earth and like it not Bush will be the leader for 1 more year.Beware world,when we have appeasment as the leadership goal.Thank goodness for theU.S.A. and President Bush. By the way as Christians we can pray 24 hours a day, As the Bible says we should pray without ceasing.

shelbourne, Summerville, South Carolina ,U.S.A