Letter: Bombing history

Sir: We must stop bombing Iraq. The UK government must pull out our forces and urge the US to do the same. Aside from overwhelming humanitarian arguments, the heritage of Western civilisation lies under the sands of Iraq, and it has been plundered continuously since the Gulf war.

The Iraqis used to be proud guardians of their ancient cities, the most famous of which is Babylon, but UN sanctions have had their price. Unfortunately since 1991 looting of entirely undocumented sites, amongst the most important ancient settlements found, is already leading to the deletion of history, perhaps rendering us incapable of answering crucial questions about the past.

Iraq is the land where Christianity, Judaism and Islam have their common roots and where Abraham lived in the city of Ur around the 3rd millennium BC. We owe it to future generations to find and pass on that history - not bomb it from the record.

STEFAN WICKHAM

London W1