Sir, - Can anyone answer the following questions:
Has the UN Security Council been reduced to two members - the US and the UK?
Can any country decide to attack another country without UN approval or is it only the US and the UK which have that particular privilege?
Why was the decision to bomb Iraq taken on the eve of a possible decision to start proceedings to impeach the President of the US and what value might there be in delaying the proceedings until the balance of power changes there?
Why has UNSCOM taken so long to carry out its duties in Iraq and were the cat and mouse games perpetrated only by the Iraqi regime?
Does Richard Butler, the head of UNSCOM, report to the President of the US or to the Secretary General of the UN?
Which countries actually sold weapons of mass destruction, the subject of the arms inspection, to Saddam Hussein during the 1980s before the Gulf War and how much money did they make?
What was the reaction of these countries to the human rights abuses committed by Saddam Hussein before the Gulf War when his strength in the region was of strategic importance to the US and other Western countries?
If the attack is not against ordinary Iraqis but against Saddam Hussein, why did the allies in the Gulf War not enter Baghdad and take him then, as they could have, and why did they not support the popular uprisings which they encouraged throughout Iraq?
Why is it that the sanctions imposed after the Gulf War which have had devastating effects on the poor, the elderly, children and the sick have not affected Saddam Hussein's power (or his comforts) and yet continue to be supported by the US and the UK?
Finally, how do I comfort my Iraqi friends who have already seen the suffering of their families and friends caused by the sanctions and now have to watch possible injury or death being perpetrated on them by the so-called democratic countries they thought would free them? - Yours, etc., Jean Manahan,
Leopardstown Valley, Dublin 18.