STADIUM BOARD: IF Darlington Borough Council had done a proper job and consulted over 2,000 concerned residents, Mrs Mazurk would not have found her name splashed all over this graffiti board (Echo, Mar 18).

It is because she has given hours of her time to make sure planning conditions for the new football stadium are adhered to, on behalf of residents, that she has found herself the butt of Mr Reynolds's tongue.

Darlington council has given this man a foothold in our town, it is now up to it to keep him in line.

This board should be taken down now. It is dangerous on the A66 roundabout, it has no planning permission, it is an eyesore on a Darlington approach road and residents who speak out wonder if they will be next.

I would ask Darlington council if anyone can put up a 30ft board in their garden to libel neighbours with whom they don't agree?

All this hassle and the stadium isn't even finished. I think residents really have a genuine cause to fear what will happen once this place is open for business. - Jean Bowes, Address supplied.

WAR AGAINST IRAQ

HOW ironic that the overrunning coverage of the war meeting in the Azores over the weekend should cause the cancellation of the BBC2 Correspondent programme.

This programme would have asked why the alleged Israeli nuclear, biological and chemical facilities remain uninspected, and explored the fate of Israeli Mordechai Vanunu who was jailed for exposing the Israeli secret warhead factory.

Whilst we are on the brink of an illegal war against Iraq, on the pretext of disarming Iraq and disposing of that country's alleged weapons of mass destruction, the international community tolerates another Middle East country which may have, or in some cases already has, used these weapons.

Unfortunately, we may never find out what weapons arsenal Israel possesses as the US continues to veto resolutions, 40 at the last count, condemning Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and investigating Israeli nuclear, chemical and biological capability.

Israel has not been asked to disarm and co-operate with the international community.

Until the international community, through the UN, treats each country fairly the hypocritical stance of the US, with our Government's backing, will further alienate Middle East and Muslim opinion, fan the flames of religious fundamentalism and create more people willing to sacrifice their lives in terrorist attacks against the West. - Dave Atkinson, Darlington.

THE road to this war is paved with British and American deceit. They have tried to fabricate evidence of a link with al Qaida, and pretended that this is all about disarming Iraq, claiming that they have tried to achieve this peacefully for 12 years.

The truth is that they have tried for 12 years to topple Saddam by a combination of cruel sanctions and sporadic air strikes. Saddam had no incentive to disarm because it was made clear that this would continue as long as he remained in power.

It is indeed reckless for Tony Blair to support President Bush's adventure, especially without first resolving the Palestinian problem. Vague promises to deal with this in the future are too little, too late.

The likes of Osama bin Laden will exploit this with glee, presenting it as evidence of a hypocritical crusade against Islam. There will be horrific casualties, secondary conflicts will be ignited, and a terrorist backlash will follow; but we will not learn the truth for a long time. - Pete Winstanley, Farm Cottage, Durham.

WE welcome the recent unanimous decision of Durham City Labour Party to oppose an invasion of Iraq without a specific resolution of the UN Security Council.

The search for international peace and security has been an important principle of the Labour Party since its foundation. In the last 50 years that has meant an unswerving commitment to the UN Charter. Today, Labour leaders seem to have abandoned that principle and that commitment. Tony Blair searches for excuses to go to war, with or without a UN mandate and without the UN appointing either the US or Britain to carry out any action it proposes.

As Labour Party members we want to make our position crystal clear. If Tony Blair fails to pursue all the possibilities to disarm Iraq peacefully and launches an illegal invasion, he will have sacrificed the moral and political right to lead the Labour Party. And that applies to all those in the Party who endorse this violation of Labour values and international law. - Vin McIntyre, Ben Byrne, Gill Cillingham, Johnson Dent, Pat Dent, Reg Davison, Thea Khamis, Linda Rutherford, Dave Shotten, John Thoburn, Janet Townsend, Bill Williamson, Durham.

AT school we were taught that Britain was a civilised country which treated others with respect.

I now know that school history books painted a rosy picture of British history and only by extensive reading did I begin to realise we were not so 'Great' after all.

That, however, is now in the past, but little did I ever think we would be a nation about to embark on a campaign of state terrorism against another country.

The simple truth is we do not live in a democracy at all. We have a dictatorship of the executive which rises roughshod over the will of the people.

The war will be short and cruel, revealing in the horrible outcome that might is right.

How awful and depressing to find that Britain and America are now to don the mantle of terrorists and destabilise the Middle East.

The war will be won, but we will lose the peace and Britain and America will be despised by millions of people all over the world. Who knows what the legacy will be?

George Bush and particularly Tony Blair will lose whatever reputation they may have had for integrity, compassion and humanity. - Hugh Pender, Darlington.