I HAVE read so many letters that urge more time and caution before attempting to remove Saddam Hussein.

It really upsets me to think that people would rather turn the other cheek than be instrumental in solving such a problem.

When action was called to intervene in Bosnia, the same kind of resistance to act was shown by the general public. Just think of how many more lives would have been lost if Milosevic was allowed extra time in the hope that he would reform. He would surely have caused the deaths of many more than his existing total of 200 000 people. Think of how many more lives could have been saved if action were taken earlier. Surely we should learn from these situations?

A similar scenario occurred with Afghanistan. The man in the street was generally opposed to going in there to remove the oppressive regime. But after that unpleasant job was done, most of us are quite pleased that human rights have been restored to that country.

The religionists argue that we are playing God by interfering with these evil rulers and regimes. I would propose that God would be disappointed in us if we do not muster the moral courage to protect ourselves and the more vulnerable peoples of the world against these dangers.

We certainly don't need "a smoking gun", as we have Saddam's "smoking record" on file already. It does not make any sense to try and find his latest creations just so that we can justify taking action against him. To allow Saddam even more time than the 12 years he has already been granted would be highly irresponsible and immoral. He has committed too many atrocities already and remains a very dangerous threat to the world at large. The enormous time-delay in taking action is also making a mockery out of the United Nations' concept that most of us aspire to, and is sending the wrong message to the bad regimes of the world.

I am sure that people like Robert Mugabe are well pleased with our reluctance to act against tyrants. He must sleep soundly at night with the knowledge that he has at least another 11 years in hand before he can expect any serious challenge from the likes of us. In the meantime he can wreak havoc. Is this really the kind of world we want to create?

Rob McDougall

Somerset Road

Bolton