THE sentiments included in the editorial column (LET, March 25), as well as comments from local MPs such as Greg Pope and Jack Straw, gladdened the heart?

There must be no genocide in Europe at the end of the 20th century, the violence must end, and the killing must stop, no to dictatorship. Hooray for such 'noble thoughts.'

Perhaps we might anticipate an alliance between the Lancashire Evening Telegraph and our local MPs and anyone else who may wish to join in, in support of military action by NATO against Israel and Indonesia.

After all, are both of these nations not guilty of violating UN resolutions calling for their withdrawl from Lebanon, the West Bank and Gaza Strip in Israel's case and from East Timor in Indonesia's case?

In East Timor 200,000 people have been slaughtered by Indonesian troops. In the Lebanon, Israel continues to bomb its villages, and this 17 years after the horrendous massacres of Palestinians in the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps. And why stop there? Our new 'noble intent' and 'ethically motivated foreign policy' converts can start to tell Turkey where to get off with the violent repression of its Kurdish population (there are only 12 million of them living in the country), and its propensity to invade Iraq whenever it feels like.

Strangely enough, not so much as a peep of any significance or substance on these latter issues. And there are many more like them around the world.

One more thought: To try and get NATO governments to increase the amount of money they give in no-strings-attached foreign aid to assist infrastructure development and to combat famine in under-developing countries, is like trying to draw blood from a stone.

And yet billions of pounds can be realised in an instant to put together monumental military forces for the purposes of waging war, dismembering sovereign states in Yugoslavia's case or protecting western oil interests in the case of the war waged against Iraq.

I think hypocrisy is the word I am looking for.

GEORGE DAVIES, Redearth Road, Darwen.

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