SIR: Once again the peace is threatened by the aggression of NATO. With the Gulf War in mind, with our dead of a few hundred against the Iraqi death toll of 200,000, we must not count on the odds always being in our favour.

Having been denied the opportunity to use ever more hi-tech new weapons, NATO is pouring massive arms and men into the explosive area along the Albanian Yugoslavian border. The Kosovo part of Yugoslavia is the part to be torn away. The problem of ancient rivalries of the various Balkan peoples had been solved with the formation of the Yugoslavian state. After the miseries of the Bosnian and Croatian wars brought about by NATO, the chance to test new Western weapons is open to us.

The "rich" nations of the world cannot hope forever to keep the peoples of the Third World in poverty and unemployment. This disease of capitalism can not be expected to be pushed on to the underdeveloped world any more. Already the symptoms are showing with 10 million unemployed in Europe alone. Be sure that, whatever was decided in Birmingham, it won't be the millionaires who will be called upon for sacrifices.

With the nuclear tests in India, once again the use of sanctions is declared. Now almost half the world is being sanctioned. How ridiculous! We are really boycotting ourselves. President Clinton has already said: "It's unrealistic to expect us to have nuclear weapons and not use them ever, no matter what the circumstances are." Right from the horse's mouth!

The youth that played the main role in ridding us of Hitler & Co., and took the lead in ending the Vietnam War, must once more stand ten feet tall and heed the plight of the poverty and misery of the oppressed Third World peoples. It's OK to enjoy sport and pop events during leisure hours. However, the main productive times must be spent in halting the inevitable tragedy we face as the chickens will surely come home to roost. Youth needs a purpose in life; here it is,

Every Friday night, the Wood Street Socialist Club will provide further information.

Bertie Lewis

Taunton Drive, Farnworth

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.