Sir, Matthew Parris (Comment, April 12) was as engagingly provocative as ever, but I do believe that the United States and her allies went to war out of genuine concern over Iraq’s weapons of mass destruction, and not out of a desire to extend American hegemony. I believe that, in the coming year, Iraq will be rebuilt as an independent country, and not as an American satellite. The sincerity of the allies’ purpose will be demonstrated.

Other nations may voice concerns over American power, but in their heart of hearts, how many will really believe that the US is embarking on the first stage of some quasi-Napoleonic conquest, from which they need to be protected by ganging up together in opposition? Will they really see France, Germany and Russia, who have used international institutions to cloak the pursuit of their own self-interest, as leaders to be relied upon? I think not.

Yours sincerely,
BOB YULE,
16 Saunders Close, E14 8BN.
April 12.

From Mr Michael Rauh

Sir, Matthew Parris recently called into question the Prime Minister’s sanity (Comment, March 29; letters, April 1). It is therefore legitimate to inquire about Mr Parris’s own mental state.

He tells us about his fear of the United States, and his paranoid anxiety that the “forces of disorder and un-Americanism in the world will bow, one by one, to Washington’s will”. As for the war in Iraq, he writes that “success is, on balance, the likelihood; and a more frightening prospect than failure”.

Of course, “failure” would have meant many more British and American casualties and a vastly empowered Saddam Hussein.

He concludes that the UN should leave New York, and the UK should join the “Rest of the World” in ganging up on the United States.

I think the evidence rather favours the proposition that Mr Parris has gone mad, not the Prime Minister.

Sincerely,
MICHAEL RAUH,
80 Springfield Avenue,
Newton, Wirral CH48 9XD.
April 12.

From Mr W. R. T. Woods

Sir, In the future there will again be two superpowers, this time the US and China. The European nations will, as usual, hide behind the American skirts. The EU will continue as a Franco-German cabal of second-division horse-traders or will collapse entirely.

I am 62 and may well live long enough to see it.

Yours faithfully,
W. R. T. WOODS,
11 Watermeadow Close,
Aylestone Hill, Hereford HR1 1JG.
April 13.

From Mr Simon Tavanyar

Sir, As a Briton living in America, may I robustly correct Matthew Parris’s slanted view of world history? It was our own English forefathers who built a colonial empire. Our North American allies of 200 years, I believe, never have — at least, not unless you factor in US tennis, Tiger Woods and McDonald’s.

Not that Uncle Sam lacked opportunity. I’m guessing Matthew’s parents were really relieved to see the US Army arriving in 1941, then going home again in 1945 minus 300,000 GIs. We liked it when they arrived, we liked it better when they went home. They just do what they’ve always done: offer US lives in the field of conflict to give other nations their chance at choosing freedom.

If there are millions of Iraqi children tonight who will sleep with a real future — minus propaganda, minus torture, minus slavery and fear — then they can largely thank two good men: Tony Blair and George W. Bush.

Yours faithfully,
SIMON TAVANYAR,
441 Country Wood Circle,
Lake Mary, Florida 32746.
April 12.

From Mr Gwythian Page

Sir, Matthew Parris postulates a new nonaligned bloc of all nations outside American influence, headed by France, Germany and Russia.

The former nonaligned bloc was designed as a neutral forum of those mainly undeveloped nations who, theoretically at least, chose not to side with either of the then superpowers. In a world of one superpower, the only possible point or justification for such a bloc would be potential or active hostility to the foreign policies of the US, and that is clearly what Parris is advocating.

He further envisages a new UN as the agent of that bloc, constituting all the present members except the US and its allies. The power centre of such a UN would, as with the present one, be the Security Council, of which the dominant members would surely be France, Russia, China and Germany. What a recipe for world conflict!

Yours sincerely,
GWYTHIAN PAGE,
30 Pilbrow Court,
Gosport, Hampshire PO12 2NZ.
April 13.

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