OVER the last week or so we have seen horrific pictures in our newspapers and on our television screens of the war in Iraq.

We have heard news of troops being killed by so-called friendly fire and of innocent people being bombed when guided missiles go astray. All this is part of the terror of war.

Each of us will have to come to terms with these realities in our own way. Whatever our views about the war the images are still very disturbing. For me the best way forward is to pray for a just peace as the outcome of these hostilities.

There are two important ingredients for a just peace. The first is the bringing to birth true democracy for the people of Iraq. But a true democracy will only be born in Iraq if it is part of an international just order. This is why talk of an American Administration is Iraq is so terrifying.

Even though the United Nations has been sidelined by America and Britain leading up to the war, it must not be sidelined now. A democracy imposed by America in Iraq will never be a true democracy. The only hope is for a United Nations Administration that would lead to a just settlement.

There can be no proper democratic outcome for Iraq if it is not backed up by the only international democratic institution we have, namely, the United Nations.

But democracy is useless on its own. There also needs to be proper ownership of the country by the Iraqi people themselves.

Iraq needs both a democratic form of government and its own economic freedom.

I realise that this sounds something like a pipe-dream. It is perhaps just a fanciful hope. But those of us who believe in God are called to believe impossible dreams and to work for their coming.

Michael Williams, Vicar of Bolton Parish Church