CAN MP Tony Benn be right for once?

Why is it that NATO, a defensive organisation, has started to wield a big stick and, having failed in the first instance, is now embarking on a blitzkrieg to virtually annihilate a sovereign state in its own right without the approval of the United Nations?

Does this not smack of saving face? They have got themselves in the mire and must now win at all costs regardless.

It was envisaged that this action against Serbia would take a couple of weeks and that would be it. That strategy has left them up the creek - with no reserve plans in hand.

The pretence that it was to save the Kosovars shows how ill-prepared they were, to embark on this crazy assault which, according to the World Bank, has caused infrastructure damage of £20 billion.

There has never been a war without refugees, so why was no pre-provision made and stockpiles of aid placed into position?

Admittedly, the numbers are awesome, but the Allies were ill-prepared in any event. The Kosovars are now in a worse plight than they would have been without this muddled intervention.

Because of what must follow, more will die of disease than will lose their lives from Serb atrocities. In this enlightened age, why has no computer network been set up to record these refugees so that, at the least, they might be saved the stress and trauma of seeking their families? Britain has spent an estimated £70 million on its undeclared war, yet only given £20 million in aid to the refugees and countries supporting them.

Tony Blair appears to believe that he is involved in some kind of glorious moral campaign that will accumulate accolades of acclaim. This may or not be the case. Moreoever, he might find himself being indicted, along with Bill Clinton, Slobodan Milosevic and the rest for war crimes under international law.

Serbia is turning into another Malta like when this small island withstood the might of the Luftwaffe and Hitler's submarines for months. The huge air armada, with probably the greatest bombing capability ever, has failed to bring this small country to its knees.

Would not a better solution have been to buy Kosovo from Serbia, similar to USA's purchase of Alaska?

Other countries are not being as hawkish as Tony Blair. Germany, France and Italy can see further than the end of their noses - and that with the enormous, lucrative reconstruction contracts on offer afterwards, the Serbs will be highly selective over who gets the lolly.

WALT MEADOWS, Whalley New Road, Blackburn.

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