Letter: Troops in Libya

THE continuing involvement of British troops in the action in Libya must now be a major cause of concern both for the Ministry of Defence as to whether some of the military actions are defensible in terms of international law, and also for the church in terms of whether involvement can still be defended as just and therefore licit for Christians to be involved in.

The intervention took place under a UN resolution which was specifically concerned with defending the rights of civilians and was not aimed at achieving regime change.

Initial attempts by Venezuela to broker a deal were undermined by the US State Department. After the conflict started, the African Union sent a peace delegation to Tripoli on 10 April and agreed a roadmap for the resolution of the situation in Libya. On 11 April, statements from the US and the UK called for the departure of Gaddafi from power and from Libya, and in the light of these statements, the rebel leadership rejected the proposals. On 14 April, Britain, France and the US released a joint letter designed to "make the rebels more defiant".

The Chief of the Defence staff has been reported as wanting to bomb more targets so as to negate any "risk that the conflict could result in Gaddafi clinging to power".

Clarity about aims and objectives and continually checking what is being done against what ought to be done is essential if mission creep is to be avoided.

I am deeply concerned that the military intervention in Libya has now reached the point at which it cannot be defended either in international law or in terms of Christian ethics. If this is the case, then the United Kingdom government should cease its military involvement forthwith.

David Mumford (The Very Rev.), Dean of Brechin, Brechin

YOUR leader comment was spot on. Yet again British soldiers are about to die in another imperialist war which will, as you rightly say, "end in tears". Yet whose tears? Not those of David Cameron and Nick Clegg, of that we can be certain. No as usual, the tears will be shed by the relatives of those who go to war.

There has been much debate since the Scottish election on the pros and cons of independence. One of the major benefits of an independent Scotland would be that our young people would no longer be sacrificed in wars which do nothing other than inflate the ego of Messrs Cameron and Clegg.

Bill Cruickshank, Dinnet, Aberdeenshire