One can have that view, of course, but one is bound to ask: why was it that, when Saddam perpetrated this crime against the people of Halabja in March 1988, the last year of the long Iran-Iraq war, the West didn't see it as a pretext for military intervention?

Indeed, America's official response at the time was to accuse Iran of being just as bad as Saddam. The West had been supplying Saddam with chemical weapons throughout Iran-Iraq war and were unconcerned about his battlefield use of chemical weapons.

However, in the lead up to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, they suddenly became concerned because they said Saddam had the potential to deploy his WMDs against the West.

There is no conclusion one can reach other than that, under the West's working definition, only weapons that can threaten the West are truly WMDs.

Should the West have taken more targeted action against Iraq for its use of chemical weapons in 1988 and earlier?

Of course, but the morally selective defenders of the invasion of 2003 should not be given the excuse that their only crime was invading (20 years) too late.

Greg Ellis, Murrumbateman

Medicare bungle

Don't tamper with secular icons. The recent political upheaval revealed a range of misjudgments, among the worst being the government's response to the Medicare scare. Medicare is a community icon and disaster awaits any hint of government tampering, unless it is abundantly clear the intervention is beneficial.

The scare frightened everyone. If the Coalition wanted government in their own right, they should have realised it needed rebuttal in money terms, not words. To show they were fair dinkum, the Coalition should have committed to a Medicare levy reduction of 5per cent for the different levels.

Australia's budget and national debts are measured in tens of billions, so quibbling about lost revenue would have been inconsequential.

Colliss Parrett, Barton

Scare campaign

Simon Corbell and executives of the Capital Metro Agency were the subject of an estimates hearing in the ACT Assembly on June 27. In response to questioning, Mr Corbell claimed that cancellation of the light rail contracts would cost from $220million to $280million. An agency executive then claimed the Canberra Metro consortium was spending from $20million to $30million a month. However, the facts are these:

Only the design and construction contract at $707million is concerned; the contract of operations and maintenance is not due to start until 2019. An order has been placed for 14 trams for about $65million. At cancellation, the consortium would be only five or six months into the construction contract.

It is known that the consortium has about 100 people employed at present, mainly on planning, not construction. How can 100 planners possibly chew up a reported $20million to $30million a month?

Cancellation of Melbourne's East-West Link contract last year actually cost $420million of a $6.8billion contract, that is, 6.2per cent. Applied to the light rail construction contract of $707million, the cancellation cost would be about $45million.

The ridiculous claims by the government on cancellation costs are nothing but the start of a sad election scare campaign by a government whose conduct of late has left a lot to be desired.

M. Flint, Erindale

Reconciliation Day

This week I attended a public meeting organised by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Minister Chris Bourke on a proposal to create a Reconciliation Day for the ACT, to be observed as a public holiday.

The discussion was highly respectful and very informative. I was deeply moved by the personal stories of the Indigenous members of the community.

Although various views were expressed about which day of the year should be selected, all present supported the concept of a Reconciliation Day.

However, supporters of our constitutional monarchy strongly oppose any move to create a new public holiday by cancelling our Queen's Birthday holiday.

Reconciliation Day represents a golden opportunity to unite the community, and must be kept well clear of the Republican/constitutional monarchy debate.

Gary Kent, Australians for a Constitutional Monarchy, Griffith

One-way tram

Publicists employed by the management group employed by the tramway consortium contracted by the city council generate "material designed to sway voters in the upcoming ACT election" ("Anti-tram election ads to cost Liberals", July 6, pp1,4).

Yet when the opposition group within the council use their own money to similarly publicise their point of view, they are penalised by the AEC.

Current electoral funding laws are a deprivation liberty, a suppression of free speech. Complete and timely disclosure should be the issue, not prohibition or limitation.

Gary J. Wilson, MacGregor

Kangaroo cull

Frankie Seymour (Letters, July 12) thinks "high infant mortality" (slow death of infants by starvation or disease) is a better way of avoiding overpopulation in kangaroos than shooting adults.

People are upset at the thought of kangaroos being shot. So am I. But the consequences of not shooting them are worse, in both humaneness and effects on the environment.

Mike Dallwitz, Giralang

The suggestion in your editorial ("Budget surplus predictions get reality check", Time2, July 13, p2) that the Gungahlin tram is "not without rubbery figures" is an understatement.

The whole propaganda episode being waged by the government is little short of deception. The blatant understatement of the 2016 equivalent cost of the project as $939 million when a fair estimate is near to $1.3 billion is just one case in point.

The 7.52 per cent discounting of the future availability payments, that are obviously an inflation-related component of the cost, is devious. The government knows that the discount rate that it used is only appropriate for comparing competing investments.

Another aspect of the Gungahlin tram that the government has managed to avoid defending is the doubtful capability to increase the capacity of the tram link to cater to the population growth that it anticipates both in Gungahlin and along the entire route.

Whatever way one looks at this project, it is destined to be a costly public transport failure that can only be rated an irresponsible budget commitment given the warnings that the government has received. Furthermore, the project must be evaluated in its full network extent which involves seven times the Gungahlin track length as well as lake crossings. The 25-year time frame proposed would commit 7 per cent of our budget for that entire period on a network that cannot deliver the rapid transit that Canberra will desperately need.

Audrey Smith, Farrer

Recoup our losses

George Rozvany of the International Society for Promotion of Ethical Tax Behaviours reports that Australia loses at the very least $50 billion in tax revenue courtesy of avoidance schemes by the four giant firms, PwC, Deloitte, KPMG and Ernst & Young, who audit the books of most of the world's major companies.

That sum is more than enough to offset the current budget deficit.

I may be missing something but if it's the actual impact on everyday matters that determines the importance of a news article, shouldn't this deserve more banner headlines?

Luca Biason, Latham

Woeful Labor

Historical fact one: especially, since the days of the hopelessly hapless Whitlam Labor government, modern-day "working families" have always been far better off financially (short, and long term) when Liberal Party led governments have been in office.

Historical fact two: generally, the worst Liberal-led governments are far, far better than the best Labor-led governments.

Historical fact three: generally Labor (as shown by Whitlam) could not manage a kindergarten tuck-shop in a depression!

Howard Hutchins, Chirnside Park

Rethink economics

The focus on economics by Western countries has been so wrong for years.

We need to look at land, labour and capital.

A focus on land would lead to priority being given to renewable energy development and a sustainable environment, and creation of jobs in this area.

A focus on labour would lead to a reduction of educated migrants (who are denuding the developing countries of the donor-educated people they need to rebuild their countries), training of Australians, an increase of refugees; and much more development aid so people can stay in their own countries.

The focus on capital has resulted in policies to reduce taxes of the wealthy when 1 per cent of the wealthy of the world control almost all of the resources.

The people have said clearly they don't mind being a poorer country, they just want equity.

They want to get rid of greed. All people need is "enough".

If people feel cared for and can be productive, the amount of negative behaviour, such as joining terrorist groups, drug abuse and gambling can be expected to reduce considerably.

Caroline Fitzwarryne, Yarralumla

No love for Catholics

Senator-elect Pauline Hanson's comments about Asians and Muslims swamping Australia are predictable but they are not racist.

I don't agree with her as the real problem is the number of conservative Christians, particularly Catholics, who now make up the largest religions group in Australia. This "Catholicisation" of Australia increased after World War II when the Catholic immigration minister, Arthur Calwell, gave Europeans priority over others and this has not stopped.

Most of our political party leaders are Catholics which may partly explain the indecision and backward-looking views of many of their fellow MPs in Canberra.

Fortunately I live in an inner urban municipality were nearly all the churches have closed due to lack of interest.

Adrian Jackson, Middle Park, Vic

Triple problem

Isn't it interesting how much Australia's Pauline Hanson has in common with Britain's leader of the UK Independent Party Nigel Farage, and America's presidential candidate Donald Trump?

Apart from sharing the same language, all three politicians are determined that their respective country must not welcome any more refugees, particularly those from the Middle East.

Clearly, this view is not purely that of the three politicians, but also of their numerous supporters.

Surely, for countries who are so truly blessed, it is not unreasonable to come to the rescue of desperate people, who are begging them for help.

Sam Nona, Burradoo, NSW

A cosmic riddle

After a five-year journey of about 2.8 billion kilometres, NASA's Juno solar-powered spacecraft has reached and is now orbiting Jupiter and will be sending back to Earth information about the giant planet's composition.

The successful mission is yet another triumph of science, technology and the human adventure.

How can it be that down here in Kambah, about 20 kilometres from the seat of the national parliament of a supposedly advanced country, we sometimes still have trouble accessing the internet?

Ed Highley, Kambah

PM STUMPS UP

Surely the most remarkable thing about suggestions Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull donated $1 million to the Liberal Party is not his willingness to put his money where his mouth is but, to his credit, that he may have put his hand in his own pocket rather than the public's to do so ("Turnbull evades questions over whether he donated to Liberalcampaign", canberratimes.com.au, July 15).

John Richardson, Wallagoot, NSW

RIDING FOR A FALL

Ross Fitzgerald ("A high price for killing prime ministers", Times2, July 12) and F. Mulligan (Letters, July 15) appear to be calling for a less than stylish Turnbull-Abbott marriage. But will Tony want to ride in pollie pedal on a same-sex bicycle made for two?

Dr Peter Smith, Lake Illawarra, NSW

DISARMING PHRASE

Today's Canberra Times says that "a forearm from Johnathan Thurston that broke James Tedesco's nose in Origin III will require off-season surgery ..." ("Blues irate after Tedesco's nose broken", Canberra Times, July 15.) Gee, I thought it was the nose that needed repair!

Anne Willenborg, Royalla, NSW

VISION SPLENDID

Theresa May's leadership vision is of "a country that works not just for the privileged few, but ... for every one of us". Could we outsource our government to Westminster?

John Leech, Yarralumla

NO WORDSMITHS

I may well be a grumpier older bloke. However, my generation says in 10 words what later generations say in 100. And we use meaningful words; younger generations are looking for the meaning of their words.

Howard Hutchins, Chirnside Park, Vic

WRONG TURN

ISIS would like to thank Bush, Blair, and John Howard for turning Iraq into a terrorist state. The invasion of Iraq, based on American lies, was the birth of ISIS. All terrorists welcome in Iraq.

Richard Ryan, Summerland Point, NSW

A DONE DEAL

I've heard of countries that deal with ballots with a good deal more alacrity than Australia, even to the degree of having the result settled well before the election.

M. F. Horton, Adelaide

VIEW NOT UNIVERSAL

Brexit and the rise of racist seats in Queensland does not detract from the shame and anger most Australians feel on the issue of refugees and asylum seekers.

Yvonne Francis, Apollo Bay, Vic

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