Mercury (Hobart)

Convention­al weapons

- Dennis Keats Howrah Michael McCall Primrose Sands A new way to have your say Jack Lomax Lachlan Edwin Morris Brooks Bay Joan Carr Lauderdale Phil Brooke Berriedale

THE message is clear. Syria and its allies should kill Syria’s enemies (mostly Syrian men, women and children, as it happens) with convention­al weapons only. Blow ’em up and shoot ’em, by all means, but chemical weapons (prohibited chemical agents) are a no-no. Just an aside, but nobody is suggesting America should destroy its stockpiles of chemical weapons; not that it has any to destroy, of course. The secret labs developing germ or biological warfare agents can hardly be described as facilities for production and storage of chemical weapons (or can they?)

Figures make no sense

DURING a Security Council session held on Friday upon Russia’s request to discuss the US threats of attacking Syria, the US representa­tive said the Syrian government used chemical weapons 50 times which led to the death of 200 civilians. It makes no sense. These figures are clearly wrong. It is also wrong to think the massive Western forces in the east of the Mediterran­ean are motivated by love for a number of terrorist thugs in Douma — who left that city and headed north, from where they will head to Saudi Arabia then Yemen where they will be recycled and used in other fronts. This latest attack is merely to make good Trump’s reckless assertions and to stop him looking even more foolish that 200 extra people have been killed in Syria

Don’t involve us

PRIME Minister, please do not involve Australia helping Syrian rebels. As an exservice Vietnam fodder or tethered goat at “Coral’s” so-called blocking line in May 1968, do not 50 years later kill Australian­s themercury.com.au readers have a new way to have their say. It’s free to use, just register and have your say. For more details and to register, visit the website.

Consider neutrality

YOU can fool half the people all the time and all the people half the time, but the US propaganda and the illegal strike on Syria leaves no doubt in many minds that Australia should become a neutral nation. For many Australian­s, the credibilit­y of the US has been sunk by its own illegal actions. Russian President Vladimir Putin secretly has more admirers in the West than we have for our own leaders. It is time for the Western media to help prevent a slide into nuclear war through investigat­ive journalism. Has anybody seen an interview with President Bashar al-Assad or listened to Vladimir Putin’s cry for peace and good dialogue? The wisest move our administra­tion could take is to draw attention to the US’s oversteppi­ng of the mark by at least talking publicly about the possibilit­y of neutrality, to avoid being pulled into the unpopular spotlight now shining on the US.

Boggy highway

IT is about a year since I wrote to the Mercury complainin­g about the state of the flooded footpath on the left side going south on South Arm Highway. Since then absolutely nothing has been done to improve the drainage from the footpath. My alternativ­es this morning? Either walk on the road and probably get run over or wade through the long grass. Not good enough!

Beach chockers

WITH Dark Mofo being so popular, will Sandy Bay beach be big enough?

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