-Caveat Lector- DON'T GO IN WITHOUT UN BACKING, HERO PILOTS WARN http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnews/page.cfm?objectid=12616656 &method=full&siteid=50143 By Steve Mccomish
TWO hero airmen tortured by Saddam Hussein's thugs yesterday called on George Bush and Tony Blair to halt their rush to war with Iraq. RAF pilot John Peters and his navigator John Nichol were captured when their Tornado fighter bomber was shot down during the Gulf War in 1991. Their battered faces were flashed on TV screens around the world as they were paraded by their captors. Father-of-two Mr Peters, 41, warned yesterday that Britain now risks being dragged into another Vietnam War. With 100 aircraft poised to leave Britain for the Gulf, he said he had "grave reservations" about attacking Iraq without the full backing of the United Nations. Mr Nichol said US Secretary of State Colin Powell's "evidence" against Baghdad still did not prove the case for military action. The two lieutenants faced a seven-week nightmare of interrogation after their capture. They were threatened with rape, starvation and death - and forced to admit their guilt as war criminals before the TV cameras. Mr Peters said: "I am very uneasy about the fact that we are considering going into Iraq. "In the Gulf War it was Iraq who invaded Kuwait and the international community felt that that was unacceptable. "It was very different from the current situation. "The general public feeling is that we are not sure we're doing the right thing. "No one wants to go to war without a sense that your nation supports you. "If the nation ends up damning the troops, it will be Vietnam all over again and it will psychologically scar our forces. "America is still suffering from this. No one in the military wants that." Mr Peters said Tony Blair had to make his reasons for supporting George Bush's stance completely clear. "People in the military deserve political clarity if they're to be sent to war," he said. "Saddam Hussein is an evil man and he operates an evil regime but in my view we have not been given enough reasons to attack a sovereign state. "We need to be convinced that Saddam has got weapons that are a direct threat to our security. It looks as though he has but the responsibility should be on him to prove that he is not a threat. "It is also important to remember that we have the freedom to question our leaders whereas people living in Iraq have not. No one questions Saddam because they can't." Mr Peters left the RAF two-and-a-half years ago and lives in Worcestershire with wife Helen, 41, and children Guy, 14, and Toni, 12. He runs management development consultancy UPH with former England rugby international Rory Underwood and survival expert Martyn Helliwell. But his ordeal still haunts him. "How would you feel if you lived your life in constant fear?" he asked. "You never know what will happen next. "You know your captors can kill you - and will if they have to. "That is the most terrifying thing of all. It's not the actual harm inflicted upon you, it is the expectation that something awful could happen at any time. You can only imagine the worst." Mr Peters added: "Being in the armed forces is a dangerous job. You know this when you sign up. "I received training to deal with this kind of situation so I do not believe that I am especially heroic. "After the Gulf War we thought that Saddam would fall. He is very clever in all the wrong ways and we should never underestimate him. "I find it very sad that we are in this position. Friends of mine died during the previous conflict. "You like to feel that you have achieved something." John Nichol, now an author and commentator, said Colin Powell's report on Wednesday to the United Nations Security Council went some way to answering the White House's critics - but did not go far enough. Mr Nichol said: "Although the presentation offered evidence that there just might be some grounds for concern, I would suggest that with all the technology available to the Americans they could have come up with something better than some put-together graphics and a couple of phone conversations. "The danger is not just about attacking Iraq. "We always take a short term view of these situations. It's what happened when the West was arming Iraq when it was our friend 20 years ago." Top Forwarded for your information. The text and intent of the article have to stand on their own merits. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without charge or profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type of information for non-profit research and educational purposes only. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ "Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. 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