Colette Douglas Home writes in measured, but very effective, terms concerning the horrifying legacy left by Tony Blair and President George W Bush in Iraq ("Blair has lost his reputation and should be silent on war", The Herald, June 17).

However Mr Blair attempts to dress matters up with regard to the 2003 attack on Iraq, the fact is that in the absence of an international consensus through the UN he decided the UK should ride shotgun in support of the ambitions of President Bush and his cohorts, such as Dick Cheney and Donald Rumsfeld, to complete the unfinished business of unseating Saddam Hussein.

The length of time to complete the Chilcot Inquiry into that war merely increases people's suspicions as to how the preparations for war were handled.

There are those of us who can remember when Harold Wilson was in office as Prime Minister at a time when the US was deeply embroiled in the Vietnam War. The US President Lyndon Johnson asked for a contribution from British armed forces, even a token one, to help the American efforts. Harold Wilson resisted these overtures.

It is a great pity that Mr Blair, for the sake not only of his own reputation, but also for the good name of our country, failed to follow Mr Wilson's example. What a vale of tears the Vietnam War proved to be, and what a slough of despond the post-2003 Iraq War situation has turned out to be.

Ian W Thomson,

38 Kirkintilloch Road,

Lenzie.

It is to Colette Douglas Home's credit that, in spite of everything, she can feel sorry for Tony Blair because he has lost his reputation. I find it shocking to see the wreck of the man as he is today as opposed to the confident, smiling young Prime Minister who entered Downing Street in 1997, but I am afraid I can feel no pity. I reserve that for the soldiers who were sent to war on a lie and who either did not come home or returned badly injured in body and soul by their experiences. I feel pity for their grieving families and for the hundreds of thousands of innocent souls who died in Iraq, for the children left orphaned and traumatised, and for the babies who were born dreadfully deformed through the use of chemical weapons.

I feel pity for all the people of Iraq who had to watch helplessly as their country was bombed and devastated in 2003, who have lived with violence and terror in their streets ever since, and who are once again going through a living hell.

Mr Blair may have lost his reputation over his illegal war, but he has not, so far at least, lost his liberty. He refuses to apologise for his decision to go to war which not only plunged Iraq into havoc but made the UK and the world a more dangerous place. In spite of all this, the man for whom "sorry" really is the hardest word, was made a Middle East peace envoy, a terrible insult to Iraq.

I believe Mr Blair does suffer for his folly and has to live with his demons, but the people of Iraq have to live with far worse.

Ruth Marr,

99 Grampian Road,

Stirling.