I DISAGREE with Andrew Dinsdale's (Citizen letters, May 8) that to claim that war is wrong implies the status quo is better.

Unlike Bush and Blair, I do not pick and choose which dictators I oppose and which I support and finance. I am wholeheartedly in favour of the overthrow of vile regimes that repress, torture and imprison their opponents without legal process. Such an act, though, must be carried out by and democratically controlled by the people of these countries and not imposed by the military might of a foreign power.

The governments of the UK and the US never claimed to be going to war to remove a dictator. They stated instead that Saddam was a 'real and direct threat' with the ability to use weapons of mass destruction within 45 minutes.

I do not expect that the US/UK occupation of Iraq will bring a true democracy for the Iraqi people. And I think that, should we indeed ask them, the Iraqi people would argue that they're perfectly capable of running the country without the US/UK military 'authority' in occupation.

I suggest that democracy in Iraq won't be brought in by Bush and Blair but will be fought for by the Iraqi people themselves.

And while we're on the subject of toppling dodgy regimes - Maybe Andrew Dinsdale will be joining in the struggle against that extreme right wing government in America that has been ripping up international agreements on trade, arms, war crimes legislation, human rights and climate control as it tries to impose the 'Project For a New American Century.'

N Bliss, Lancaster.