IN reply to Mr I Whittle (15/04/03) I would just like to clarify my stance on this justified conflict with Iraq.

Firstly I will not lower myself to party politics on such a crucial subject but if Mr Whittle wants to, then that his perogative. For the record I am a Labour voter and am proud to be one.

Firstly, as for guessing how many men, women and children would die during the campaign, I can only say that it would take a genius to know the answer beforehand.

I would like to know where all the anti-war protesters were when Saddam was killing his own people on a daily basis. Is it because we are being shown the suffering on our television screens and they don't like it, but when it was going on behind closed doors it was acceptable?

You can't have it both ways. In my opinion I find people who still insist that this action should not have taken place to be selfish. It is as though they can put up with tortured Iraqis as long as they don't see it. In your letter you apologised to the Iraqi people for not giving their consensus to the conflict, and there lies the problem Mr Whittle, they were not allowed to do anything under Saddam's regime.

Finally I would like to answer to your accusation that I have a gung-ho attitude. I would prefer to say that I am a realist and you are not.

Peter McClements

Birkdale Gardens

Bolton