OrphanSue

This is the farce that America is backing: as in the Iraq war, the rest of the world knows it is utterly wrong...

Nonsense! The 100 richest people in Honduras rule the country while the majority live in absolute poverty. This election is a farce, so is their rule about nobody every being able to challenge the constitution that keeps things that way. The majority of Hondurans supported Zelaya because he was helping the poor and challenging the constitution on just these grounds but, they are not interested in just the one man - they want change; real democracy

This decision by our Home Secretary is appalling. I have written to my own MP about it but I would like to appeal to all Americans, particularly those who know someone with autism, to write to Obama asking your government to grant this man clemency. He had no idea he was doing anything wrong - he was looking for evidence of UFOs, that was all. People with Asperger's Syndrome are often highly intelligent, as witnessed by what McKinnon was able to do but, nevertheless, they are autistic and have no idea of the effect they have on society or even the people around them. Asperger's is classed as higher level autism simply because, to most people, they can appear normal until you get to know them and realise that they are, like most autistics, completely obsessive. I'm sure you all know even otherwise sane people can be obsessed with UFOs - imagine adding that to autism? McKinnon had no idea he was doing anything wrong - as soon as he was asked about it he freely admitted what he was doing and said why. If he's deported to the US his mental health will undoubtedly suffer - autistic people can't bear to be taken out of their normal environment and this applies to Asperger's too. If he was actually sent to jail for something he had no idea was wrong, he would, without doubt, kill himself. There has been a case here recently of a young man with Asperger's who, like McKinnon was an expert at computers and holding down a good job developing computer software. His boss was so proud of him that he asked him to lunch that Friday to congratulate him on his good work. The young man killed himself the Thursday night rather than go to that lunch - he'd been in a panic about it all week. Please Americans, lobby your government on this - Obama likes to be seen in a friendly light and he obviously cares about health issues - if the British government can't act alone, maybe some agreement between the two governments can be reached to protect this man.

I'm beginning to think the US is speaking with forked tongues here - is there rivalry between Obama and Clinton? Of course, in any country where the government is seen to be divided, anyone who still believes in democracy (which most certainly is not the majority of Hondurans) is going to vote for the opposition - that happens even here in Britain. On the one hand the US is saying that Zelaya should be returned to power before the elections but, on the other hand they're saying the elections are part of the democratic process? Come on - Honduras is not a democracy by anyone's standards except the USA's...

I fail to see how the USA can possibly support the elections in Honduras which, by their own admission has an illegitimate government and which the ousted President of that country is urging his own supporters to boycott. How can this election possibly be free and fair?