IN a BBC Radio 4 interview, Jack Straw, in justifying Britain and America's illegal invasion of Iraq, claimed that Article 51 of the UN Charter provided for countries to take "preventative action."

Journalist John Pilger has rightly pointed out that nowhere in Article 51 of the UN Charter is such a provision allowed, nor indeed in any other article. Article 51 refers to the "inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs."

So can Jack Straw tell us when Iraq attacked Britain or even threatened to? Could Blackburn's MP tell us what danger these non-existent weapons of mass destruction posed to the people of Britain?

What a debacle! It is estimated that some 25,000 Iraqis have died. More than 400 US soldiers have been killed and 7,000 wounded. Over 50 British soldiers have lost their lives and many more injured.

And for what? Oil company profits. US big corporate profits in rebuilding Iraq's towns and cities. And the liberation to which Straw refers? The latest CIA report talks about a minimum 50,000 Iraqis involved in the resistance to the occupation of their country. This will mean many many more deaths in the weeks, months and even years ahead.

GEORGE S DAVIES, Redearth Road, Darwen.