Superpower justifies warmongering on basis of threats from a few armed peasants

JIM FORDE (Letters, January 25) is naive to believe US troops will withdraw from Iraq in a year – they have been saying that ever since the invasion seven years ago.

The puppet governments in Iraq and Afghanistan could not survive without the support of US and British troops and covert operations. Mr Forde claims civil war would be a consequence of withdrawal. He must be the only person on the planet not to have heard of the numerous bomb attacks in which tens of thousands of Iraqis have been killed. The US invasion in 1993 precipitated civil war. The Kabul government has never ruled autonomous tribal areas in Afghanistan. The US was happy enough to bankroll and supply arms to the Taliban when they were fighting the Russians.

These people have every right to defend their homeland against alien invaders.