It’s time for another “Letters to the Editor” fisking. The Times letters section is quite unlike that of many other newspaper. Few offer such well thought out commentary or authoritative pundits, perhaps by virtue of The Times’ standing or perhaps because of its erudite readership, myself excluded.
However, every now and again someone writes in with a letter so monumentally ill-sourced or plainly fallacious that the sole possible purpose of its publishing appears to be to provide a target for derision and knowing nods of amusement.
One such example is reproduced here, from my own town no less:
Sir, In his conference speech Tony Blair said: “I simply point out, such evidence (of Saddam having actual biological and chemical weapons) was agreed by the whole international community.”
France? Germany? Russia? The United Nations? Hans Blix? Charles Kennedy? Robin Cook? And two million UK protesters?
Yours faithfully,
JOANNA KIRCHNER,
163 Maldon Road,
Colchester, Essex CO3 3BL.
September 30.
To answer the questions posed.
Yes, Yes, Yes, In its composition of members Yes, Initially Yes, Not in a position to know, Yes and In no position to even speculate.
The debate at the security council was never about whether Saddam had biological or chemical weapons but simply the means by which the situation should be dealt. France, Germany and Russia all had intelligence which pointed to Saddam having WMD. They accepted it and it was never an issue. For someone feeling the urge to write into a newspaper Mrs Kirchner seems to be rather wanting in her research.
Preceding that was a brilliant letter that highlights some of the astounding gall which some in the anti-war movement have demonstrated concerning the “immoral war”.
Sir, Sir Adam Butler (letter, September 30) poses a hypothetical question: “If he had known that the information was false … would Mr Blair still have invaded Iraq to ‘remove Saddam Hussein’?”
Let me ask one in return. Suppose it had been the case that Hitler had constituted no direct threat to our national security, should we have stood by and let him complete the extermination of European Jewry with impunity?
It is said that on a conservative estimate the Saddam regime was responsible for the murder of one million people.
The “accepted” principle that you risk life and limb only if your own safety is in jeopardy and never in order to succour those in need is repellent in the extreme.
Yours faithfully,
ROBIN HOWARD,
New Timbers,
8 Upfield, Croydon CR0 5DP.
September 30.
Right you are Mr Howard.
Later
John
Posted by John Swaine at October 2, 2004 05:12 PM | TrackBack