THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: In Our Name

Today, thousands of people will converge on London to join in the Stop the War march. Among them may be readers of this newspaper, whose opposition to Anglo-American intervention in Iraq is based on moral objections, or on concern about the possible consequences for this country.

Such scruples deserve respect. Most of the speakers who will set the tone for this march, though, have rather different motives, chief among them hostility to America. Those who are by no means anti-American, but who disapprove of George W. Bush, may find themselves uncomfortable in the company of those who see America as the fount of all evil. It is to such people, who still have open minds, that the following points are addressed.

• One of the marchers' slogans is: "Not In My Name". What do President Bush and Tony Blair propose to do in our name? They intend to protect the world, and themselves, against the threat of chemical, biological and nuclear attack by Saddam Hussein; to liberate the people of Iraq, who have suffered more under Saddam than anybody else; to overthrow the most dangerous of the regimes that sponsor international terrorism; and to uphold the authority of the United Nations by enforcing the disarmament of Iraq. How many of the marchers disagree with these aims?

• Many people ask: "What has it to do with us?" They may feel that this is America's war, not ours. They are wrong. Iraq threatens everyone, Britain as much as America, with its weapons and the terrorists it sponsors. Saddam's successful defiance of the international community has emboldened other "rogue states", such as North Korea, to menace their neighbours. Tony Blair is right to be wary of following Chamberlain's line when Germany annexed the Sudetenland in 1938 - "How horrible, fantastic, incredible it is that we should be digging trenches and trying on gas-masks here because of a quarrel in a far away country between people of whom we know nothing."

• Will today's protesters spare a thought for the victims of September 11? At that time, there was a spontaneous wave of support for America that, in Britain, was almost unanimous - with the exception of some of the leaders of today's march. Allied leaders, including those of France and Germany, pledged solidarity with America in the war against terrorism. Saddam's reaction was to exult in the mass slaughter of Americans. Now that Osama bin Laden has openly aligned himself with Saddam, it is hard to ignore Iraqi support for terrorists, including al-Qa'eda. How many protesters can honestly reply "yes" to the question: would I be marching against war today if the attacks on September 11 had been, not on New York and Washington, but on London?

Good morning!

Why do I think 9-11 happened? This is honestly very difficult for me. It is a real struggle for me. I can understand differences, grievances, and honest struggles. I can understand wars, fought as wars. I can understand attacks on our Marine barracks as an act of war on warriors. But I simply cannot fathom that kind of depravity.

I don't think September 11 is unique except perhaps by scale. It would be on the scale of Pearl Harbor but even that was an act of war on warriors. Throughout history there are far too many examples of this kind of depravity. Usually they occur within borders as some despot decimates his own population or some faction seeks control. Sometimes they escape borders. And when they do, they must be stopped.

But when you boil all the meat off the bones, evil exists. You cannot hide from evil. It grows and spreads and feeds off what it destroys. It's like lava, oozing everywhere and leaving charred remains in its wake. Evil must be faced, resisted and conquered. If not, it absorbs you, and you become part of it. You become complicit in its actions. I believe we are facing evil. Only evil can take such pleasure in so much pain and grief.

Why did September 11 happen? The volcano erupted, and now we must stop the spreading. There are a number of convenient excuses they rattle off, but even given the philosophical differences, in the end there is no sane justification for it.

I know this is long, but I hope I answered your question.

Take care.

Becki

But when you stick your nose into a vipers den then expect to be bit. But answer me this. If a Serb started shooting congressmen at the foot of the Capitol building after a session would you wonder why he did it? Of course it is wrong but would you seriously wonder why after we bombed his country for 78 days from 15,000 feet, supported a bunch of Narco- Islamic terrorists, and destroyed and split his country from it's historic starting point? Do you think 9/11 was just becauuse they "hate our freedom"? Our policies have nothing to do with it?

Thank you for responding. I honestly think that we will be hated, despised and envied no matter what we do. You cannot be the most powerful, most successful and the richest, and expect to be liked and adored by people who are not powerful, not successful and not rich.

I don't think America is a perfect country. There has never been one, and there never will be a perfect nation. But America is the best that there has ever been.

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