Sir, – US president Donald Trump has reached a new low in disregarding international laws by calling for recognition of Israeli annexation of the Syrian Golan Heights. Irish soldiers have been serving on the Golan Heights for over four years. It was a serious mistake to send them there in the first instance, and their presence there has little to do with peacekeeping, and serves mainly to protect Israeli illegal annexation and Israel’s attempt to acquire Syrian oil resources on the Golan Heights. All Irish troops should be withdrawn from the Golan Heights immediately and the replacement contingent of Irish troops that are scheduled to arrive on the Golan Heights in the near future should remain in Ireland and possibly be sent instead to other conflict areas where genuine peacekeeping is urgently required, such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, or South Sudan. – Yours, etc,
Dr EDWARD HORGAN,
(Former UN peacekeeper),
Castletroy,
Limerick.