Paint throwing incident

I seem to have ruffled a few feathers with my letter regarding the paint throwing incident by the Graffitti Movement involving a visiting US naval warship (January 12).

Charles Sammut writing from New York (February 3) thinks I am under the impression that this action could have "derailed" the naval warship from assisting the victims of the tsunami or somehow impeded its departure. I would like to point out that the old grey matter may be deteriorating a bit but I like to think that I still have a bit of common sense left, so I will ignore the above remark as it isn't even worth replying to.

I will certainly not detract what I have written just because he thinks there are more important things to write about. It is very easy to take a letter out of context - he knows full well that my main concern was for the crew who were in Malta for a respite which I am very sure they deserve.

The Maltese are renowned for their hospitality and that shouldn't be jeopardised by some silly action, like throwing paint at the vessel. As Mr Sammut implied in his letter, there is enough violence going on in the world especially in Iraq and, therefore, I should show some concern.

I do get outraged and do voice my concern at the wars, bombings and needless destruction that seem to dominate the news these days but there are other matters that also concern me that I do write about.

And I assure Mark Camilleri of the Graffitti Movement (February 4) that I am fully aware of what warships are designed for, so I don't need a lecture in that respect.

My criticism was for the paint-throwing incident, which I said was ill-timed and ill-advised, which, if memory serves me correctly, was even condemned by his own movement, which claimed that the activists involved were acting on their own initiative. Therefore, further comment would be superfluous.