Madam,

Cllr Louise Hughes (‘Disparaging letter showed lack of respect to Forces’) seems to have learnt how to argue from the military. The main point of my letter was to show that war is never a good way to solve conflicts. The best in Welsh life have always known it.

Young people who join the forces at 16, as Mrs Hughes so strongly recommended that they do, must normally serve at least four years. At 18 years old, those youngsters can be ordered to fight for at least two years, to kill, to maim and to destroy.

Mrs Hughes gave me no answer to my central claim (‘War is not the way to resolve conflicts’), only tactical evasion.

I criticised her for bringing to bear the weight of her councillorship for Llangelynin, for that was how she signed her letter, to support her militaristic case. I found it particularly inappropriate that she should do so when, after all, she was returned unopposed in Llangelynin and recommending the military life was certainly never in her manifestos.

It is true, though irrelevant, that I had hoped to stand against her. My health however let me down and I had to withdraw. I left it as late as I could hoping my health would improve enough for hustings, canvassing, door-knocking and street-campaigning. It didn’t, but it has now.

I am ready, willing and eager to stand for election.

In fact Mrs Hughes being returned unopposed, time after time, surely makes it even more important that she does not use her councillorship to bring prestige to electorally unexamined claims, like saying the young should join up to fight.

Mrs Hughes says nothing about the war crimes, the maltreatment of prisoners, the ‘good guys’ doing thoroughly bad things like anti-civilian bombing, the use of horrific weapons and the failure of war and the military ever to bring permanent peace.

The decimation of city after city in Afghanistan, Libya, Iraq and now Syria was ‘achieved’ by military forces who believe in war, many of them doing it in our name.

Mrs Hughes, instead of arguing her case, throws up a smoke screen of petty petulance that is all too easy to see through.

Does she, after all, given her family’s military service, know only too well, as my father did, of the dark side of military practice, I wonder?

I disparage war and criticise those who see the threat of violence as a political option. That is surely what we should be telling our 16-year-olds, not trying to lock them into armed combat at 18.

Mrs Hughes, don’t let 16-year-olds become part of a killing machine.

Yours etc,

Ian MacIntyre, Shelbourne Court, Barmouth.

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