YORK Against the War calls on all local election candidates to publish their stance on the war in Iraq (Iraq pull-out plea to poll hopefuls, April 21).

The York Green Party's position is clear. Our manifesto for the City of York Council election May 3 states: "We campaigned vigorously against the war on Iraq and believe that all British troops should be brought home. The presence of foreign troops in Iraq is only making a terrible situation worse."

If you believe the war in Iraq should stop now, you need to vote for a party that publicly commits to campaigning to remove the British military from Iraq immediately.

York Green Party commits to this.

Alan Swain, York Green Party, Skeldergate, York.


* CHRIS Clayton (Readers' Letters, April 16) makes a good case for UK forces to leave Iraq. Since his letter was published, the daily toll of casualties has continued to escalate, including at least four deaths.

The original manufactured excuse for the invasion of removing Saddam Hussein was achieved in 2003.

Since then various efforts have been made to justify the introduction of "democracy" to a country whose culture had been established thousands of years ago, long before this country's "democracy" was established.

Afghanistan continues to prove impossible to remove the stranglehold of the insurgents who disappear and return at will.

These fanatical fighters have practised their art for hundreds of years, it is a way of life for them, and the word "democracy" is not in their vocabulary.

There must be a solution which stops the UK forces being targets for such people.

Surely it is time for this country to extract itself from the entanglement with US foreign policy, which is also costing them serious casualties with little sign of peaceful result.

J Beisly, Osprey Close, York.