Opinion - Letters to the Editor   

Say `no' to war

Sir, — The all-out war on Iraq that the U.S. has now launched will be an outrageous crime against the people of Iraq and a blow to the people the world over. Even while U.S. bombs designed to flatten Baghdad are loaded into planes, there is still time for Indians to protest firmly and well so our voices are heard.

We believe that peoples and nations have the right to determine their own destiny, free from military coercion by great powers. The responsibility is now each one of ours to stop this act of terrorism. We in `Katha' make this plea: Please, George Bush and Saddam Hussein, think of the children and the old and the infirm. Please do not wage war. Say `no' to war.

There are other more civilised ways to settle any questions.

Friends of `Katha',

New Delhi

* * *

Sir, — After sparring for months, Iraq and the U.S. are on the brink of a war. George W. Bush has created such hysteria that it appears impossible to retreat without unleashing a war on Iraq. Any other course would be tantamount to losing face. Saddam Hussein is equally defiant. This is an example of the clash of egos that is holding the whole world to ransom. Logic, reason, the moral compulsion of the U.N. do not hold sanctity for Mr. Bush and others in their venture. At one go it spells the death-knell of international covenants.

H.R. Bapu Satyanarayana,

Mysore

* * *

Sir, — Riding on the coat-tails of the U.N. resolution 1441 that warrants the disarmament of Iraq, the U.S. has been ensuring that Iraq remains defenceless when it attacks it. Therefore, a weak Saddam regime can hardly put up any resistance worth mentioning. However, the very thin silver lining in the cloud is that France, Russia, Germany, China and most non-permanent members of the Security Council stood by their convictions even in the face of U.S.' threats of punitive measures. They have called the bluff of the U.S.-Bush administration and managed to retain at least a semblance of the U.N.'s credibility. There can be no two opinions that until France took the bold initiative of threatening to exercise its power of veto against a second resolution, the U.S. had been unabashedly using its economic and political clout to garner votes from the member-nations and managed to authorise U.N. resolutions that furthered its own interests.

Nalini Vijayaraghavan,

Thiruvananthapuram

* * *

Sir, — Now it is time to disarm Bush and Blair diplomatically or by force and not Saddam Hussein. Iraq is not a single person — Saddam Hussein — it is a question of millions of Iraqi people. America and Britain have continuously violated human rights especially those concerning the Iraqi people. Innocent people cannot be killed to disarm or kill a single man. The world faces numerous problems, let us solve them instead of losing everything in war.

Khoja Gauharabbas Shabbirali,

Bhuj-Kutch, Gujarat

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