ARMED FORCES

I AGREE with your Comment (Echo, Dec 26) regarding our armed forces.

Yes, drunken antics as occasionally reported in The Northern Echo mean they do not act in a permanently perfect manner, but the tasks they are asked to fulfil, on behalf of the nation, are by no means perfect in their nature.

Those inclined to complain should take a close look at the young faces and imagine how they would fare in such places as Iraq or Afghanistan.

Despite this, we read of countless acts of sacrifice, selflessness, courage and professionalism.

With the reduction in size of the armed forces, and growing age of the last National Servicemen, it may be difficult to relate to, or know, the men and women who serve - yet each death is a tragedy for family and friends, each wounded serviceman might require specialist care for years or even a lifetime, and many hold the scars deep in their minds, outwardly looking normal.

Whatever our beliefs, as we pass from this year to the next, they deserve a thought as we raise a glass - as do the countless service charities that do tireless work in the service and ex-service communities.

Jim Tague, Bishop Auckland Conservatives.

SADDAM EXECUTION

THE EU has appealed to Iraq not to execute Saddam Hussein. It would be more to the point if it urged and required member states to withdraw their forces from Iraq unless the government they are helping to keep in power there agrees to this request.

It would be a small expression of appreciation for our support, and if we are not appreciated we should go.

We should not remain to be further complicit in an act that is contrary to European principles.

Those who object that such pressure would be an interference with Iraqi sovereignty can hardly condone the continued presence on Iraqi soil of foreign troops carrying out internal security functions.

If our normally anonymous MEPs are not too busy sleeping off hangovers or filling in expense claims, now is the moment to make themselves known and heard.

It is one of only two chances in their careers they will have to do something useful (the other being to ensure that, if the EU must standardise anything, it standardises the colour of black socks so it is easier to make up a pair).

John Riseley, Harrogate, North Yorkshire.

CAPITALISM

WELL, we're heading into 2007.

Seven years into the new millennium. What has been achieved? Let's see.

More people dying of starvation in a world that could feed us all.

More people dying of preventable disease in a world that has medicines to treat these illnesses.

Hundreds of millions of people, whose skills and labour could be used to add to the things we need, left idle because it is not profitable to employ them.

Wars without remission on nearly every continent, with all the death and misery they entail.

Hundreds of billions spent on ever more ingenious methods of taking life and thousands of the best minds involved in this "business" rather than spending this money and using these minds for the benefit of all.

This is the legacy that capitalism has given us. The real challenge stands before us - to create a society where the happiness and good of one is the happiness and good of all.

We have the resources, human and material, to achieve this. What we do not have is the will or understanding.

As a well-known thinker once said, the philosophers have merely interpreted the world, the task is to change it. Speed the day.

Steve Colborn, Seaham, Co Durham.

SEASONAL GRUB

EVERY Christmas, my family and I feast on turkey on Christmas Day with the traditional trimmings.

What is left of the turkey is eaten on Boxing Day as bubble and squeak, with a delightful smothering of onion gravy.

However, I'm surprised to learn what some of my friends eat on New Year's Day. Some have chicken, others gammon, but to hear that one or two have a curry amazes me.

On a New Year's Day, I always eat British lamb with mint sauce and roast potatoes, washed down with a fine English ale. Food is a very important factor of the celebrations, and just as important as the gifts that we receive.

Whatever you choose to eat on New Year's Day, whether a joint of gammon or a shoulder of lamb, I wish you all a Happy New Year.

Christopher Wardell, Darlington.

HAS CORRESPONDENCE

I AM sorry that John Routledge and D Cook (HAS, both Dec 23) feel that Hugh Pender and I have "taken control" of Hear All Sides, but wouldn't HAS be a bit boring with no counterweight to the right-wing reactionaries?

Someone has to challenge columnist Peter Mullen's more outrageous rants, and also the letters from BNP members and their sympathisers.

When I do, I am often met with a barrage of hostile responses from several different writers, and feel compelled to defend myself.

I am not often the most prolific writer. Tony Kelly and Christopher Wardell have certainly taken that distinction at other times. I once counted eight letters from Mr Kelly in three weeks. I submitted four letters over the same period, and got two printed.

In the three weeks before Christmas, there were seven letters from me, but also seven from Kev McStravick and six from Tony Kelly, but I hear no complaint about them.

My co-accused, Hugh Pender, had just four.

Pete Winstanley, Durham.

YOUNG VALUES

WHAT an indictment of the values taught to many children today when being a celebrity, good looks, and being rich rank higher in importance than God (Echo, Dec 18).

The responses came in a survey from children under ten. If their fundamental understanding at such a young age is so worldly and selfseeking, it can only be hoped that their views will change with maturity, or they will surely be in for sad, disillusioned lives.

EA Moralee, Billingham.

PINOCHET

CORRESPONDENT Des More (HAS.

Dec 22) writes that our country does indeed owe Pinochet a debt of gratitude.

His words must come as a great comfort to the families of more than 3,000 men, women and children (including more than 30 Britons) who were forcibly abducted, tortured and murdered by order of the monster called Pinochet, for demanding for the people of Chile the same freedoms that Mr More takes for granted.

CT Riley, Spennymoor, Co Durham.

CORRECTION

ON Saturday, December 23, HAS published a letter on the subject of immigration from M Symonds, of Middlesbrough, which contained a date printed as December 8, 2007.

The date should have been December 8, 2006, as supplied by the writer. We apologise for the error.