HEARING that Iraq is descending ever further into the chaos Libya is now enduring, must beg the question just why did the West interfere in these countries?

Both Iraq and Libya were under the control of very strong dictators. Saddam Hussein, (Iraq), and Colonel Gaddafi, (Libya).

True enough these men were quite ruthless in the way they ruled their respective countries.

However, neither country suffered the continuing slaughter of fellow-citizens, which has gone on since Hussein and Gaddafi were overthrown - with our help.

Syria’s Dictator/President Bashar al-Assad is under enormous pressure from the West to abdicate and let democracy have full reign.

Should Assad be removed from power, there is little doubt Syria would soon descend into the chaos Iraq and Libya are now going through.

However Syria has no oil so the West will only pay lip-service to the “Remove Assad!” cliche being bandied around!

Surely the current chaos of Libya and Iraq shows what little understanding the West has of Middle Eastern countries’ politics and their various branches of Islam.

Former Prime Minister Tony Blair’s statement that “Iraq has Weapons of Mass-Destruction which could threaten us” was a ludicrous reason to go to war against Iraq.

Any 13-year-old could have told him this would not be possible as, knowing the area would have been under constant satellite surveillance, the wherewithal to build/launch such “weapons” could not have happened.

We, in the West, have little understanding of the Middle East and trying to solve their problems is a poisoned-chalice and should not be considered - under any circumstances.

Philip Roe, Roman Avenue South, Stamford Bridge.