CHRIS Clayton et al (Letters, October 10) all seem to be missing the point. The fact is that we are at war against terrorism, a war that is not going to be over in weeks, months or even years; this is a war that will last for most of our lifetimes.

The war is not against Islam but it is a war against Islamic extremists and, with so many extreme Muslims in this country, we can well do without the Left-wing diatribe of long held anti-American views expressed by such as R Westmoreland.

His accounts of recent history are inaccurate on every point. How can anyone seriously talk about the suffering in Iran and Iraq without mentioning the distress caused to those two countries during the eight year war following Iraq's invasion of Iran or Saddam Hussein's slaughter of thousands of Kurds by his use of poisonous gas?

Osama bin Laden has said that: "Every Muslim from the age of reason about the age of seven hates all Americans, Jews and Christians, that is part of Islamic ideology".

It is not good enough for him that all Muslims read the Koran, he demands that they accept his interpretation of it. It is also fitting that he is protected by the Taliban, who are making every effort to drag Afghanistan back to the seventh century.

This is a dangerous age and it will get more so as weeks pass. It is now time for the Government to bring back the death penalty for acts of terrorism, and make it a crime, irrespective of religion, for anyone to walk around our streets fully masked.

Derek Martin,

Fulford Road, York.

...WHILST I appreciated very much the tone of the report on the demonstration for peace held in Parliament Street (October 9) and the accuracy of the reporting, I had hoped that some of the other remarks made might also have been quoted.

In particular, I refer to my friend Bill Shaw, having talked about the economic unfairness in the world and to my having added that: "It is not just as simple as whether or not people are rich or poor (as I've known both generosity and meanness from people of widely differing financial means), but rather it is that many of the world's problems are caused by poverty of spirit."

True generosity of heart is not rare, but it is certainly not always practised by any of us. Therefore, I try to 'live' in the virtue of that life that took away the occasion of all war (as the founder of Quakerism, George Fox, put it).

It is worth remembering that the same Jesus Christ also taught us, in words and by example, to turn the other cheek and to love one's enemies.

May God's peace prevail in the wonderful world so that our children's children may forever more inherit the world, in all its beauty and abundance, that they deserve. How dare we offer them less when so much has been so freely and lovingly given to us, in trust, by God with his gracious blessing?

Janet Rowntree,

Heworth, York.

Updated: 10:32 Monday, October 15, 2001