The Independent is my personal mouthpiece

Of course it’s not, I’m just practising my bravado. But they published me again, strangely getting my postcode wrong despite me not supplying them with one.

Sir: Johann Hari (”The jihadis hate not just the worst acts of our rulers, but the best aspects of our society”, 2 July) may well be right that encouraging and supporting liberal Muslims may help prevent the radicalisation of British youth.

But while many extremists may be preoccupied with the freedom of novelists and women, it is clear from events of the last few years that it is dramatically easier for them to attract followers if these contradictory ideologies are preached before a backdrop stained with Iraqi and Afghan blood. We can only hope Brown adopts a more far-sighted interpretation of phrases such as “ethical foreign policy” and “security” than his predecessor.

GILES BARRETT

LONDON SE10

It was in response to this typically not-quite-right-on piece by Johann Hari:

…a reminder that the bombers are not only blowing back against the worst in our system of government: the torture and chemical weapons in Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, and our support for Arab dictators. They oppose the best in our system of government too: the intellectual freedom to write novels that question religion, the sexual freedom of women to pick their own partners.

It’s like the guy has the war in Afghanistan hanging round his neck, his support from it constantly pulling him down and away from the clarity and perspective he seems so nearly capable of.