Sir, It was refreshing to see Charles Kennedy and others (letter, December 26) question the wisdom of an attack on Iraq without evidence of weapons of mass destruction.

However, I am at a loss to understand what possible threat Iraq could pose, even if (like us) it possessed these weapons, given the unparalleled military superiority of the West.

The entire annual military expenditure of Iraq is $1.4 billion, whereas America and the UK total some $430 billion. In military terms Iraq is tiny and insignificant. What moral or legal right do we have to attack it again?

Yours faithfully,
ANDREW DAVICE,
22 Hertford Street, Oxford OX4 3AJ.
andy__davice@easy.com
December 26.

From Mr David Skinner

Sir, As Mr Charles Kennedy and others suggest, as much intelligence information as sensibly possible should indeed be supplied to UN inspectors, and the number of inspectors inside Iraq greatly increased. And if war is averted, as we all hope, surely there should be a permanent presence, to prevent any weapons at present outside Iraq coming back in and future manufacture.

Some people imply that this is all about Western control of, inter alia, oil supplies. Of course, the US and UK would rather have friends in power there than enemies. But Iraq and North Korea are only two of many potential dangers.

Can we really turn our backs while proven aggressors build up their arsenals?

Yours faithfully,
DAVID SKINNER,
16 Whitefield Close,
Coventry CV4 8GY.
December 26.

From Mr Andrew Bradford

Sir, The leaders of the US and the UK, and not Iraq, are the ones clamouring for war. It is they who, in the last decade, have used their military machines to bomb civilians in the Balkans and who are known to have weapons of mass destruction.

It may well be that Iraq has the capability and plans for international terrorism but I, for one, require rather more justification for war than has currently been produced.

If UN inspectors were given free rein to investigate any US or UK establishment, would we allow that? If we produced a “full” declaration of our weapons capability, would we be content to allow the Iraqis to copy it before distributing it to the UN in abbreviated form?

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