AFTER reading Howard Bellaby's impeccable history lesson on Iraq and Saddam Hussein (Letters, April 16), I can't believe that it slipped his mind to mention the construction of the 'Super Gun' under Thatcher's regime in the late 1980s, or was it only a plastic replica they were building to scare the Ayatollah?

Thatcher's Government was equally guilty as those you mention in your letter. At the time, the Government was only interested in petrol dollars to boost the economy, just as the US is now, but in a different manner.

On the same letters page, the Rev DM Vaughan says: 'Sometimes war is sadly the only answer against oppression and cruelty.'

Does he mean in places where oil is widely available to pay off the debt incurred during liberation, or does he mean we must rid the world of all selfish dictators, such as Mugabe in Zimbabwe?

There are many other examples of oppression in the world today but they are not recognised as such because we too have become victims of selfishness. It only matters where we have an interest.

Councillor M Nasir

Other Road

Redditch