Why should soldiers shoot desperate people?

IT grieves me that my remarks (Letters, June 16) in relation to soldiers and doctors and their relative usefulness in Haiti have caused offence — they were not intended to hurt. Nothing is as painful for a parent of any nationality as having to bury his son and my heart goes out to John Fenton. (Letters, January 19).

To clear up a point on doctor numbers — the widely reported 300/400 are Haitian, recent graduates and final-year students from Havana’s Latin American School of Medicine where they have been studying free of charge.

They were with the first wave to arrive within 24 hours of disaster striking. Check the local media for fuller details, Granma International, Prensa Latina, the website Cubadebate or google The Henry Reeves Brigade.