Americans, myself included, have been visiting and doing business with Europe for decades. It remains a premier destination for our tourists, a desirable marketplace for conducting business, and the final resting place of generations of our relatives.

We also fully understand and differentiate between British, French, German, Italian and other EU country policies and attitudes concerning the War on Terror and the current conflict in Iraq.

The problem is not that Americans do not understand M Chirac or his desires to make the EU some sort of counterweight to the US. Most of us understand him much better than he imagines. He is the one with bridges aflame behind him; not Americans.

My next several trips to Europe for holiday will begin in the UK, and will avoid going anywhere near France. Similarly, I will not purchase French products for my home or my business.

Tony Blair, at some considerable risk to his own political popularity, showed courage and statesmanship through his participation in the coalition and continued friendship with the United States. Americans will long remember his leadership and loyalty.

Yours faithfully,
JOHN WEEKLEY,
4236 Stanford,
Dallas, Texas, TX75225,
weekleyj@swbell.net
November 16.

From the Chargé d’Affaires, ai, of the United States

Sir, I read with some surprise the comments attributed to President Chirac, which ungenerously question American gratitude and steadfastness.

As the Prime Minister and President Bush have said various times, a relationship, special or otherwise, is not a ledger book. We always come to one another’s aid when it counts the most, and Anglo-American co-operation has done much to make the world more stable, peaceful and democratic.

It is hardly news that we do not all agree on everything, but as President Bush said only last week:

Whatever our past disagreements, we share a common enemy . . . I’ll continue to reach out to our friends and allies, our partners in the EU and Nato, to promote development and progress, to defeat the terrorists and to encourage freedom and democracy as alternatives to tyranny and terror.

Any Briton who has traveled to America over the past few years knows that we are full of admiration for Great Britain, and we are grateful for your nation’s support during a trying time. Moreover, Britons with any historical memory know that America remains prepared to stand by your nation, through thick and thin. It is, I think, a record of friendship that takes second place to none.

Sincerely,
DAVID T. JOHNSON,
US Embassy,
24 Grosvenor Square, W1A 1AE.
November 16.

From Mr Robert Elphick

Sir, Reading Peter Riddell’s Political Briefing today, I see I’m not the only one to question the Prime Minister’s aspiration to offer himself as a bridge between Europe and the Americans. I remember only too well the hopes of Alexander Dubcek and the other Czechoslovak leaders during their brief political Spring in 1968, when they were saying the same thing about their Central European country being a bridge between East and West.

As the BBC’s man there at the time, I recall being warned by one very experienced informant that "in this part of Europe, bridges get blown up". Let’s hope Mr Blair is more fortunate.

Yours sincerely,
ROBERT ELPHICK,
(BBC news correspondent, 1964-77),
90 Lupus Street, SW1V 3HH.
relphick@compuserve.com
November 16.

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