WHILE religious and church leaders speak out against a war with Iraq, the two most pious political leaders in living memory seem hell-bent on instigating a military conflict that could quickly escalate out of control.

History will record this as Bush and Blair's war. Less conspicuous will be the names of thousands of soldiers and innocent Iraqi civilians fatally caught up in the conflict.

As the weapons inspectors continue their job, there is, as yet, no conclusive proof that Saddam has weapons of mass destruction, nor that he would have any clearly defined target for using them.

It is, therefore, essential that the weapons inspectors be allowed to complete their task without pressures from outside.

The rhetoric of Bush and Blair moves inexorably towards warfare. Here lies the greatest danger of all; for if Saddam believes, as do many in the Western world, that war is now inevitable, he has nothing to lose from instigating his own pre-emptive strike, either against a neighbouring country, or as an act of terrorism.

The fragile political stability of the entire Middle East is consequently under serious threat.

As war seemingly moves closer, where has been the scrutiny of this policy in the House of Commons? Indeed, what has been the role of Parliament so far?

The Leader of Her Majesty's Loyal Opposition has been so utterly "loyal" to the Prime Minister that the prospect of warfare has been greeted with deafening silence from the Tories.

Meanwhile, there has been just the occasional muted challenge from disgruntled Labour backbenchers.

Many people believe our political leaders have once again misunderstood the mood of the nation. At a time when North Korea openly flaunts its nuclear capacity and the Western world "turns a blind eye" to atrocities in Zimbabwe, Chechnya and Israel, people increasingly question the validity of another war in the Gulf.

Has not America and Britain learnt from bitter experience in Suez, Vietnam and Afghanistan that such military intervention is never straightforward and rarely achieves its stated objective?

We must make sure that our local representatives in Parliament understand the very grave concerns that exist.

TOM WELLS, West Worcestershire Liberal Democrats.