AS a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party, it pains me to have to say that Tony Blair is behaving like a dictator.

I thought we had a parliamentary democracy with crucial decisions regarding the deployment of our armed forces being taken by a vote in the House of Commons. Mr Blair says he is a Christian - what breathtaking hypocrisy!

He cannot be aware that countless thousands of innocent people will be killed by the ruthless bombing by the US.

Of course, they will be Muslim casualties, the very people he professes to be defending.

Only a land invasion could possibly have any chance of ousting the Iraqi leader and I am convinced Blair and Bush have a hidden agenda to control Middle East oil supplies and to protect Israel.

If Saddam Hussein has chemical and biological weapons, should we not be afraid he will use them? President Bush is not even the properly elected president of the US and his warmongering is his pay-off to the arms industry who financed his campaign.

If Mr Blair has forsaken his democratic principles then he must be stopped and replaced if necessary.

Of course, the Americans know all about the effects of chemical weapons, after all they used them extensively in Vietnam, resulting in the birth of countless deformed babies.

Finally, why doesn't Mr Blair ask President Bush why US military murdered many Taliban prisoners in Afghanistan, as recently exposed by Amnesty International but unreported by our media.

I would imagine Arab countries look upon President Bush and Mr Blair as we look upon Saddam Hussein. - H Pender, Darlington.

I WAS horrified to hear Tony Blair state that he was willing to pay the "blood price" of supporting the US in a strike against Iraq.

Who does this man think he is? Sadly, it will not be his blood that will be lost.

Indeed, it is obvious he knows nothing about the horrors of war. I suppose it will be the cream of our youth who will be used to give this blood.

I believe we should support Mr Blair, only when he personally leads our lads in battle. It wouldn't be much of a war. - GD Gargett, Peterlee.

ON September 5, 100 American and British aircraft bombed targets in Iraq. This, despite Tony Blair's assurances that now is not the time for a decision on whether to take military action.

Those British pilots were not dropping pork pies, the real pork pies are all coming out of Downing Street. The truth is that President Bush's war has already begun and already British forces are involved.

At this crucial time we must insist that Parliament be recalled in order that these wrongs be righted and our forces be withdrawn from the theatre of war. No other European, Middle Eastern or United Nations country is prepared to become involved, so why should we put our heads on the block for the sake of American oil interests?

Failure to take the necessary action now will undoubtedly result in our country being dragged into a war that could escalate into something that no one had bargained for. Public opinion must make itself felt on this issue.The voices of sanity and reason must be heard loud and clear throughout the corridors of power and Downing Street in particular. - A Holmes, Ferryhill.

TAKE away the Bush verbiage and what is left? Oil.

There is no credible evidence to prove that Iraq has a stockpile of atomic weapons and/or the means to deliver them. There is no evidence that Saddam Hussein found new suppliers of chemicals to arm his weapons once the US and UK stopped supplying them.

There is ample evidence that the depleted uranium, used against Iraq during the Gulf War, left large parts of the countryside contaminated for thousands of years to come. Invading soldiers have little protection against atomic radiation and may well become the victims of their predecessors as, indeed, many of those predecessors were of their own weapons.

There is ample evidence that thousands of Iraqis died, many of them children, as a result of that conflict and ensuing embargoes. There is evidence that Saddam Hussein 'dealt' with the Kurds to placate America's ally, second only to Israel in the Middle East, Turkey. There is evidence that Saudi oil revenues benefited by the exclusion of finer Iraqi oil from the market. Saudi Arabia and Turkey are American arsenals abroad. Neither is a haven of democracy.

Saddam Hussein was assisted to the leadership of Iraq by America, as were other tyrants in other places, to serve America's aims. He did what was required to the Kurds and concluded, wrongly, that he could do likewise with the Kuwaitis. Why should God only knows how many people die to correct this mistake?

Why should anybody die to secure the profits of oil companies? Why is Saddam Hussein a greater threat to the world than Ariel Sharon, who has enough atomic weapons to destroy the world and contaminate a large part of the universe?

When will the Member for Sedgefield listen to those who elected him? - Jim Dodds, Vancouver, Canada. (formerly of Darlington).

WHEN we went to war in 1914, the Americans watched carefully from the sidelines for three long years. Eventually they joined us in 1917.

Again, in 1939, they were spectators as we fought the evil tyrant Hitler until, two years later, they were forced to take part when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbour.

We do not have any quarrel with any of the Arab nations, but I do believe that we should give moral support to our American friends who, if they do go to war, will need massive amounts of armaments. We should play our part and concentrate on manufacturing arms and ammunition which we can sell to our friends at a fair price.

Perhaps some good will come out of this after all. Maybe the European nations will become as prosperous as the US.

As they say, "It is an ill wind."- J Richmond, Shotton Colliery.