AT last it has dawned on me why Philip Congdon is so repetitive with his letters regarding "humps and bumps" in the Hyndburn area.

I have never seen his description within your Letters Page as he entitled himself in The Times (Oct 7) "Philip Congdon, Defence Consultant."

The obvious reason he is so ardent with his mail must be that the humps are not conducive to Army service vehicles such as tanks, as they trundle through the streets of Hyndburn on their way to crush the UDI movement of Great Harwood. I have never witnessed such a tedious omnibus of correspondence on this subject.

Mr Congdon says in The Times that the people of the Balkans should sort out their own destiny, through civil war if necessary, and he goes on to say: "As a former serving officer, I find Blair, Clinton, Cook and Robertson's enthusiasms to spill blood distasteful."

My question to Mr Congdon is: "Do you not find the slaughter and torture of the ethnic people of the Balkans -- that is going on now and has been taking place for a long time -- more distasteful."

I too have supported CND but I am not a pacifist. We are not living in the middle ages. We are part of a world-wide civilisation. As free people we cannot, and should not, sit back and allow these atrocities to happen. After all areas of consulation have failed, tyrants such as Saddam Hussein and Slobodan Milosovic must be made to treat minorities in a humane manner.

BILL GOLDSMITH, Chairman Racial Equality Council, Garsden Avenue, Knuzden.

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