IN reply to the informative letter of Mrs B Stuart, Deborah Schlemer USA states that her country has worked tirelessly to stop people like Saddam Hussein from crushing and enslaving their neighbours.

In 1980, Iraq attacked Iran, Hussein received vast quantities of military equipment from the USA to help him defeat Iran. In 1988 the war ended in stalemate.

In 1979 Russia invaded Afghanistan, the US sent military aid to that now hated enemy the Taliban, because it suited American Foreign Policy at that time.

In April 1061, the attempt to overthrown Castro at the Bay of Pigs, by Cuban exiles trained by the American Central Agency, ended in utter defeat.

Vietnam, a country that had suffered under the heels of various countries, made a bid for self-rule under that leader Ho Chih Minh. The USA perceived his government a threat to their interests in that area, and there have been numerous similar examples.

I paint these examples to question the beliefs of many Americans, including Deborah Schlemer, that America is there to help other countries -- and of course themselves.

I remember while the US was "helping people throughout the world to obtain freedom", her children had to be escorted to school by the army, and many citizens not allowed to ride on certain transport, because their faces were the wrong colour.

No doubt Saddam Hussein is a tyrant, but the UN should be the answer to his threats, and maybe removal. The majority of British people believe that, and Tony Blair should take note of that.

John S L Evans

Howard Avenue

Deane

Bolton