I READ with some interest the reply by Miss Holstead to my recent letter on Iraq.

I am afraid, however, that she appears to have been affected by the strong anti-Bush sentiment that currently appears prevalent, which is quite undeserved.

Would we allow a military coup here she asks. No, of course not. But we are a free people, and the result would be that we would lose our freedom. The people of lraq were not free, but a people who lived in perpetual fear for their lives.

As a result of our actions, they now have the opportunity to be free. There is a world of a difference.

Whether the action was strictly legal is a matter on which people will never agree, but all the signs are that the ordinary people of lraq are most grateful for the changes that have occurred, and are most keen to embrace democracy, as the turn-out for the recent elections, in spite of all the threats and intimidation, clearly demonstrated.

Would it have been better for them had we stood by and done nothing, and let Saddam get on with his acts of mass murder and torture?

We did not, of course, "bomb the living daylights" out of the country, as she puts it. The action was concluded with the minimum loss of life, less in fact than the number Saddam himself would have taken in a short space of time had he been allowed to remain in power.

It must not be forgotten that the greatest threat to peace in the world today is terrorism, and these evil people are now endemic all over the world.

President Bush is fighting to defeat these terrorists, whereas Iran, whom she mentions, is a country that is financing and supporting it.

l know which side l believe is right.

David James

Upper Mead

Egerton