NOT only will the proposed war with Iraq be bloody but it will also be the most cowardly fought in history.

Anxious to avoid the humiliations of Vietnam, Lebanon and Somalia, where the limitations of the American army were clearly exposed, the Blair/Bush Axis will pursue a bombing campaign from 30,000 feet against a country without air defences.

Military installations will be difficult to identify as Saddam Hussein's troops will be concentrated in the cities, therefore it will be necessary to bomb the civilian infrastructure.

The main targets will be water supplies, electricity, telecommunications and roads. There will be considerable collateral damage (ie civilian deaths), but despite these horrors, this will not be the main effect.

After a month or two of bombs, most of the people in the cities will be terrified, starving and cold, with children dying of dysentery. A typhoid epidemic may well occur. Iraqi casualties will be catastrophic and surrender will be quick with a minimum of Anglo-American losses.

A puppet government will then be appointed, the Iraqi oilfields will be handed over to US corporations and the share values of the arms manufacturers will be enhanced. - J Gilmore, Bishop Auckland.

IT is said that the first casualty of actual, or potential, war is the truth. Now whether or not words spoken about the possible invasion of Iraq and the reasons given for such action are truth, propaganda or lies, is anybody's guess, but to my mind, the words: "Pay the blood price" spoken by a British Prime Minister were disgraceful.

Gung ho talk of that kind would be hard enough to take from a war-experienced commander by the men under him in actual combat, but for one who has never known the horrors of war, such words are beyond the pale. - GH Grievson, Richmond.

ONCE again our old friend Hugh Pender (HAS, Sept 9) hits the nail right on the head.

It seems fairly obvious that America instigated the attack on Pearl Harbour and persuaded North Korea to invade the South.

The war in Vietnam was not about democracy at all - just America trying to get involved in a further conflict with the sole aim of keeping their munitions factories going.

To portray Saddam Hussein as just an "unsavoury character" is naivet in the extreme. Obviously he has not seen the programmes showing the results of chemical/biological attacks on the Kurds in the north of the country. Come off it, Hugh. Don't let your anti-American bias get the better of you. - Name and address supplied.

HOW can Tony Blair justify calling President Bush a friend of the UK? He talks big in the US but dare not go to Johannesburg and open his mouth, so sends a good man, Colin Powell.

American oil and big business is not our business and this is what it is about. President Bush has been called a coward in Johannesburg and for Mr Blair to associate with him is too dreadful and must stop. - CM Johnson, Bedale.

BOTH Pakistan and India have nuclear weapons. Why not attack them?

Israel has weapons of the same ordnance as Iraq. But, no we cannot fall out with Israel. After all, what would the Republican administration do with its finances?

Iraq does have neighbours. Iran, for instance, not long out of a war with Iraq. Do you hear them complaining? Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, Jordan? Not a word.

Come on Tony Blair, let the narcissistic, self-absorbed, amour-propre get on with it unilaterally and leave the British people out of it. - BC Haslin, Darlington.

ON Tuesday, September 11 2001, like millions of decent people throughout the world, I watched in horror on my TV the horrendous scenes as thousands of innocent human beings were systematically murdered in New York and Washington DC.

They were ordinary citizens, just like you and I, going about their daily lives on that fateful morning, kissing their loved ones goodbye as they went to work or visited family and friends, etc.

Those passengers killed on the aeroplanes used that day as deadly weapons of destruction by the terrorists were certainly not boarding military aircraft prepared for armed combat, but unarmed, innocent, civilian passengers going about their lawful business.

All decent-minded people worldwide, irrespective of creed or colour, despise those who carried out and masterminded this deliberate atrocity on fellow defenceless human beings.

So this week, as we remember those innocent victims and their families, and as we, as a proud nation, take pride in our multi-cultural society, can we really turn our back on Tony Blair's determination to bring to account those evil individuals and rogue states such as Afghanistan and Iraq that give safe haven to terrorists and their equally evil paramilitary groups like al Qaida?

Democracy is facing its biggest challenge yet in its fight against the empires of evil ruled by dictators like Saddam Hussein.

Appeasement in dealing with the dictator of Iraq since the Gulf War has clearly not worked.

If we fail now in our duty to deal with this tyrant, on whose hands will the blood of future innocent victims lie? - P Walker, Labour Councillor for the Grove Hill Ward, Middlesbrough.