IT might be amusing if I had offered some simplistic view of “how to defeat terrorism” as Kev Mcstravick alleges (HAS, Oct 2).

He should not twist my words.

He accuses me of “repetitiously” suggesting that the West is “somehow culpable” for terrorist atrocities. I have never suggested this, even once.

There can never be any excuse for terrorism, though it is certainly true that terrorists are sometimes responding, albeit with unjustifiable and indiscriminate violence, to genuine injustice. However, the culpability for a terrorist atrocity rests solely with the perpetrator.

My view that the Western response to international terrorism, especially the attack on Iraq, has been counterproductive is shared by many reputable experts and organisations, including the International Institute for Strategic Studies.

George W Bush’s former chief counter-terrorism advisor, Richard Clarke, has said: “Nothing America could have done would have provided al Qaida and its new generation of cloned groups with a better recruitment device than our unprovoked invasion [of Iraq].”

A recent American report concludes that US drones, operating continuously over northern Pakistan, are having a similar effect.

The drones terrorise the local population.

Pete Winstanley, Durham