IT is worth remembering that, regarding a proposed war against Iraq that the Americans may be right and British popular opinion may be wrong. The British have been disastrously wrong before.

In Bosnia we insisted that all sides were equally responsible when it was obvious that the Serbs had both started the conflict and committed 90 per cent of the atrocities.

We insisted upon the arms embargo, which helped the Serbs who of course had all the arms they wanted.

We blocked all American efforts to launch air strikes, claiming that they would be ineffective without troops on the ground.

But for General Rose, John Major and Douglas Hurd, thousands of people would still be living.

Bush is not so naive as to trust the security of the American populace to the United Nations. A nation that stood impotently by watching people jump from the burning hell of the Trade Centre Towers will never be so guileless again.

The world has moved on and these are bad times. The Americans, whatever their mistakes, have grown in stature while we have diminished.

John P Hunter

Kerry Close

Shaw

Swindon