IN response to Doug Maughan (Letters, August 26), the Trump/Taliban agreement was no doubt flawed, but Joe Biden’s implementation as President and Commander-in-Chief is utterly incompetent. Our former ambassador to the USA, Lord Renwick, has quoted Barack Obama as saying “Never underestimate Joe’s ability to screw things up". Thus Mr Obama bears a heavy responsibility for Mr Biden’s disaster.

It was clear in 2012 that, while thanking Mr Biden for his four-year service as Vice-President, Mr Obama should have chosen a younger running mate who could have been a more credible presidential candidate in both 2016 and 2020.

As for some of those European leaders now critical of Mr Biden, as they were of Mr Trump, maybe they might consider whether their influence would be greater if they had met their full defence obligations rather than relying on the US’s for decades (yes, you Angela Merkel, among many others).

John Birkett, St Andrews.

WE NEED ANSWERS ON REFUGEES

PRIME Minister Boris Johnson claims the UK will resettle 20,000 Afghan refugees, similar to the Syrian programme. But what exactly does he mean?

The Syrian Vulnerable Persons Relocation Scheme selected individuals or families who had already fled Syria and were living in the relative "safety" of a third country – Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq.

Those currently being accepted via Kabul Airport are entering the UK under the ARAP scheme (for those who were interpreters or employed at the UK Embassy or other NGOs).

So which are the third countries from which the UK Government or Home Office or UNHCR will select 5,000 Afghans to come to the UK in 2021, and up to 20,000 within the next five years?

Afghan asylum seekers already in the UK have been waiting years in a state of near destitution for their cases to be accepted. The length of time spent waiting has left many isolated and suffering severe mental health problems.

Meanwhile, those Afghan civilians who try to seek sanctuary in the UK via “irregular” means such as boat or lorry face imprisonment under Priti Patel’s new nationality and borders bill.

All of this begs the question: what exactly is the UK doing to aid Afghan civilians fleeing for their lives? Not humanitarianism, that’s for sure.

Robina Qureshi, Director, Positive Action in Housing, Glasgow.

KIWIS CONFIDENT IN COVID RESPONSE

IN her case to highlight her concerns over the Scottish Government’s proposed Covid Recovery Consultation, Joanna Blythman makes some rather sweeping and off-the-mark observations about New Zealand’s Covid response which do little to further her argument ("Covid power grab will impose a frightening future", The Herald, August 21).

As a Scot living in New Zealand I can assure you that far from suffering nocturnal disturbances over government overreach, we recognise good public health policy when we see it and are confident that the fast and hard response to this latest outbreak is the right one. Our exit strategy has been clear since late last year when the first highly effective vaccines came on the scene: elimination followed by vaccination, followed by opening up our borders thereafter.

Meanwhile, we have suffered only 26 deaths (5.2 per million) vs the 180,000-plus (1,977 per million) overseen by Scotland’s buffoon of an absentee landlord down in Westminster. Our short lockdowns have kept the country’s economy afloat too, unlike many other economies I could mention.

Ken Ballantyne, Dunedin, New Zealand.

IN DEFENCE OF THE BEVVY

IT is indeed time to talk openly and honestly about bevvy ("It’s time to talk openly and honestly about bevvy and the damage it does", The Herald, August 21). Since the 19th century, when Louis Pasteur remarked that "wine can be considered with good reason as the most healthful of beverages", most comment has tended to emphasise the harm alcohol can do and disregard the benefits, which is rather like speaking of the motor car solely as a cause of injury and death while completely ignoring its usefulness.

How often does one hear any acknowledgement of the fact that apparently unfavourable alcohol statistics are compiled from observation of those who experience consequent trouble, while those who drink copiously with impunity don’t figure in statistics at all? Contrary to Hugh MacDonald’s perception of unremitting propaganda supporting alcohol use, the fact (indisputable, not merely speculative) that Bach, Mozart and Beethoven were heavy drinkers, appears to be sedulously suppressed. In fact many – possibly most – great creative people have been heavy drinkers. As Horace observed in his Epistles, "wine brings to light the hidden secrets of the soul. No poems can please nor live long which are written by water drinkers."

My intake of about 140 units per week for the past 60 or so years – some 10 times the recommended "safe limit" – would be classed by the censorious as off the scale rather than merely heavy, but at the age of 82 I have yet to encounter ill-effects. I wouldn’t think of trying to deny the deleterious effects that alcohol has on some people, but as a staunch advocate of untrammelled openness I deplore blatantly one-side polemics.

Robin Dow, Rothesay.

THE DUCHESS'S NAMESAKE

THE photograph you published of the steamer Duchess of Fife ("Labour of love finds a new home as Duchess of Fife model that took father 20 years to complete is gifted to museum", The Herald, August 26) is not of the Clyde steamer mentioned in the article, but of her namesake which served on the south coast of England. In those days it was possible for two British ships to have the same name.

Kenneth Fraser, St Andrews.