Reading the news with a knife in your hand. &c.

Today, a letter to the Independent: (pepped up a little for this page)

To the Editor:
The UN plan to exercise its responsibility to protect people from oppression, mass killings and genocide by their own government is welcomed by Jack Straw as it gives him and his neoconservative bosses in the White House the opportunity to plunge headlong into war without the nuisance of having to try to give their actions a veneer of legality.

There is crucial element missing from the UN's plans to invade "rogue" or "failing" states - the prior application of non-violent persuasion. There should be a statutory instrument in place that measures objectively the performance of all states, along the lines of the Index of Human Rights, and a set tariff of smart sanctions designed to hinder and disable the ruling elite. Will Jack Straw be as swift to welcome this proposal as he is to welcome the opportunity to wage war failing states?

Yours &c
RHL