Israel and the United States do not demand the removal or destruction of other states.

(From The Nation (Thailand))

Byline: The Nation.

Re: "The US and Israel are as big a danger to world peace as Iran", Letters, December 15.

In reaction to John Francis Lee's letter, I feel I have to ask him and your readers the following question: Has either the USA or Israel ever threatened or called for the destruction of a member state of the United Nations' (Israel was legally established by the UN.) I can't recall either ever having done so. However, the leader of Iran has done so, and is repeating his call for "erasing the state of Israel from the face of the earth". More so, he is encouraging and physically supporting groups that are not only calling for the destruction of Israel, but are actually fighting for this purpose. Lebanon is another example of Iran's contribution to "world peace".

Allow me to add that I am no friend of the neo-con governments of either the US or Israel. I have never supported the war in Iraq, nor can I support Israel's attitude towards the Palestinians and its occupation of land belonging to other people. I believe that both the USA and Israel together with the EU and other Middle-Eastern states like Saudi Arabia should strive to establish a Palestinian state with safe and guaranteed borders for both the Israelis and the Palestinians.

However, I cannot agree that a state like Iran, which not only calls for the destruction of another state and the deportation or "elimination" of its people, but also denies that the most evil crime of recent history, …