WHAT a pity, but hardly a surprise, that Tony Blair still can't accept what all but a tiny and dwindling band of diehard supporters freely acknowledge: that his idiocy and duplicity over Iraq converted an already drastic situation into a cauldron of accelerating violence and despair; now with the prospect of further lunacy on the part of the equally bankrupt Bush regime, vis-à-vis Iran, just around the corner.
But when he says the next chapter of Basra's history (for example) will be written by Iraqis, I fear he is spot-on: perhaps now is the time for western newspapers finally to have a stab at spelling correctly the names of such organisations as (take your pick) the Mahdi, Mehdi or al-Mahdi army of "radical cleric" (sectarian warlord) Moqtada al-Sadr. How many Northern Irelands, as was, has the PM enabled in his pathetic lust for a legacy? As Spike Milligan wrote, in one of his darker poems, about Derry in the 1970s: "When the only colour is black, the only sound the broken bell - then tell me about why."
Roy Beers, 3 Bowmont Terrace, Glasgow. THE UN has launched a campaign to raise money for the refugees of the Iraq conflict. Most attention is focused on Sunni and Shia families, forced by sectarian violence to leave their home towns. The fate of non-Muslim minorities, particularly Christians, deserves equal attention. The Iraqi Christian population has fallen to one-third of its level of 20 years ago. Those who have fled fear they may never be able to return to their homeland.
A Christian had a visit from masked militia one morning who looted his house, took his savings and told him to leave the country if he wanted to live. He had seen many Christians die, at the hands of the militant gangs. He is now in Damascus with his family, living in one room, struggling daily to exist.
Iraqi Christians numbered some 1.4 million in the early 1980s, concentrated in Mosul, Basra and Baghdad. Today, the figure stands at around 500,000.
Militant gangs target Christians from all walks of life. Whatever the motive - financial, religious, territorial - they have one thing in common: they want the Christians out of Iraq. Anonymous notes are posted to Christians, stating: "Leave, or we will cut off your heads."
It may be that, eventually, Christians will have no country to flee to. Jordan and Syria may close their borders to refugees, as they are finding it difficult to cope with the numbers arriving.
Charles Knox, 61 Demondale Road, Arbroath.
