Letter: Libyan intervention has echoes of Iraq

• United Nations' resolutions were not followed to the letter. In Libya, international forces have gone beyond the remit of creating a no-fly zone and protecting civilians. It is probable that they will kill more civilians than the advance of the Libyan armed forces along the coast;

• Faulty intelligence received from those who have everything to gain from giving misinformation (Shia/politically ambitious);

• Desire for regime change. This has not been stated, because the UN cannot sanction an attack on a fellow member state using that argument.

• Lack of thought given to the aftermath. The Libyan rebels are neither a coherent whole nor a plausible opposition and the tribal, regional and political differences throughout the country have been ignored. I fear there will be anarchy, civil war and slaughter on a scale far beyond that endured during the Gaddafi years.

We can be thankful that our army is not involved. However, attacking the armed forces of another country from the sea and the air with superior weaponry and from a safe distance can be seen as morally questionable.

We may abhor that government, but do we really know how the very large silent majority feel about it; the civilians who keep their heads down and only want to go about their daily business in security and safety?

I believe that diplomatic talks with Gaddafi's representatives should have been pursued before military action was taken.

The family must know that change is inevitable and if such talks had been successful, there could have been an end to the fighting and a reasonably peaceful transition from the present authoritative government to one that was more representative of political opinion throughout the country.

IRIS CLYDE

Kirkwall

Orkney

David Cameron's hypocrisy is beyond measure. He sends out "the bravest of the brave" to topple Gaddafi "who murders his own people". Yet in Bahrain the brutal House of Saud sends in its army to suppress, with much slaughter, local dissidents. Not a peep from Cameron on this.

In that desert that is now Zimbabwe, another reigning psychopath, Mugabe, butchers "his own people" over the years without a finger being raised by the "liberal, democratic" Establishment here.

So why the image of the tiger now Mr. Cameron? The answer is oil and the need to secure it before it falls into the wrong hands when Gaddafi bites the Libyan dust.

ALASTAIR HARPER

House of Gask

Lathalmond

by DunfermlineNo-one becomes the world's longest serving ruler by accident and though the western media routinely refer to the Libyan dictator as "The Mad Gaddafi" he is a survivor.

Supported by his formidable sons, his determination to fight contrasted starkly with the aging Tunisian and Egyptian presidents, who quickly lost the support of their military.

In spite of the enduring belief of his involvement in Lockerbie, Gaddafi is not an enemy of the West and two years before 9/11 specifically warned America of the al-Qaeda threat.

Though his warning was contemptuously ignored by both Clinton and Bush, in the wake of the attacks Libya was the first Muslim nation to denounce the bombing out of hand. There are disturbing parallels between the Arab and Prague Springs, between tribal Libya and tribal Afghanistan, and Gaddafi's clever son Saif is surely preferable to anarchy.

DR JOHN CAMERON

Howard Place

St Andrews, Fife

What these days of Tony Blair, our former prime minister turned international consultant who holds a prominent position as Envoy to the Middle East, and has in the past publicly stated his admiration for former Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak, while he is evidently regarded as a friend by members of the Gaddafis in Libya? We should be told.

RON SUTHERLAND

Millwell Park

Innerleithen, Peeblesshire