Sir, How grotesque to see the Chief of the General Staff offering his apologies to the Iraqi people for the criminal misbehaviour of soldiers in their country (reports, February 26).

Any apology to the Iraqi people should come from Mr Tony Blair for sending an uninvited armed force into their country without giving that force the necessary direction or resources that would enable it to run the country. This should of course have included the policy for dealing with lawlessness in the absence of any civilian authority.

The British Army has been in this position before: in Europe, in South-East Asia and in Korea, but its leaders were in no doubt then what was expected of them and made it quite clear to their political masters what was needed. In South-East Asia, surrendered Japanese units were rearmed and placed under British command in order to deal with just such lawlessness. The anarchy in Iraq that has resulted from the invasion was predictable but was apparently discounted.

General Sir Mike Jackson should reserve his apologies for those officers and soldiers he allowed to be put in this position without that direction or the necessary training and with woefully inadequate resources.

I remain, Sir,
Yours sincerely,
PETER HALDANE,
Walnut Tree House,
The Pines,
Hatfield Peverel, Essex CM3 2DB.
171283@rac.ac.uk
February 26.

From Dr M. J. C. Brown

Sir, So it is legal to bomb, bombard and kill innocent Iraqi women and children. No apologies are required.

But in a land where law and order has failed, it is illegal to put the fear of God into Iraqi robbers and thieves, and profuse apologies are required.

Yours,
M. J. C. BROWN,
12a Carew Road,
Northwood, Middlesex HA6 3NL.
mjcbrown@yahoo.com
February 26.

From Group Captain John Featherstone, RAF (retd)

Sir, The outcome of the Iraq prisoner abuse trials (reports, February 24, etc) caused me to read carefully, probably for the first time in 40 years, my commission parchment. In it I am commanded “ . . . to exercise and well discipline in their duties the Officers, Airmen and Airwomen as may be placed under your orders from time to time and use your best endeavours to keep them in good Order and Discipline”. For their part, they are commanded to obey me “according to the Rules and Disciplines of War”.

It would appear, therefore, that some of those commissioned officers in the chain of command of the convicted soldiers have failed to discharge their duties “in pursuance of the Trust” reposed in them by their commissions. Should they not therefore be required to resign them?

Yours sincerely,
JOHN FEATHERSTONE,
Deal Castle House,
31 Victoria Road,
Deal, Kent CT14 7AS.
February 24.

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