WHILE I accept that Malcolm Pittock is a man of principle, who opposes war of any kind, and for whatever reason, I think he should be prepared to accept that sometimes it can be morally justified.

This was the case in Iraq, just as it was in Kosovo and the Gulf war. In each case, the fight was against ruthless dictators who carried out acts of genocide against their people.

In the case of Saddam, he rose to power by murdering political opponents, and maintained power by acts of mass genocide, imprisonment and torture. Countless thousands of his people died at his hands.

Mr Pittock claims to be a Christian. Is it the Christian way to do nothing when seeing acts of great evil being committed; to pass by on the other side as someone once put it? I don't think so.

Mr Pittock should also realise that not everyone is blessed with the art of public speaking, nor do they have a wide circle of friends willing and able to fill a hall to lend support to them, as Mr Pittock does. Friends like George Galloway, who said the collapse of the Soviet Union was the worst day of his life, who had tears in his eyes when they pulled down the Berlin Wall and befriended and saluted Saddam. Galloway is a man who quite clearly supports murderous, tyrannical and oppressive regimes. Mr Pittock should be ashamed at having shared a platform with him.

The world is becoming an ever more dangerous place. War has been declared against the free world by Al Qaeda and an ever-growing number of associated terrorist groups inciting their members to commit acts of mass murder against us. We have to be prepared to defend our freedom against such actions, even if it requires the use of force. Otherwise the world will descend into chaos.

David Haworth

Upper Mead

Egerton, Bolton