MR Greenhalgh is wrong about Franz Jagerstatter.

His objection to fighting for Hitler was not based on his nationality, but arose from his Catholicism and appealed to his Church's doctrine of the Just War. The local Catholic hierarchy, to their shame, gave him no support and even tried to persuade him he was wrong (which he obviously wasn't).

The rest of his letter shows a wilful misunderstanding of the point I was making. I don't happen to believe in war, as I think it is impossible to draw a meaningful distinction between war, terrorism and murder, and believe that those who support war must regard themselves as personally responsible for the deaths of those killed by the side that they support. After all, we quite rightly take this view of the supporters of Al-Qaida.

But those who do believe in the concept of the Just War, which I made use of in my previous letter, have to face the fact that, in terms of that doctrine, it is Iraq which has the so-called ius ad bellum (right to war) on its side as it is fighting an invader, while the UK and US have not, as they are fighting a war of conquest aimed at subjugating another country and making use of its resources. The US has already named Iraq's colonial governor and we also know the names of the US corporations who intend to profit from Iraq's subjugation.

It is rather reminiscent of the Nazis isn't it? There is no doubt that Hussein is a brutal dictator -- but so was Stalin. Would that have made the German invasion of the Soviet Union justifiable, even if Germany had not itself been ruled by a dictator?

Malcolm Pittock

St James Avenue

Breightmet, Bolton