Dear Editor,

Australia should back a U.S. attack on Iraq. The proper role of a government is the defense of its citizens from force initiated by local criminals or foreign governments. When a foreign government becomes a deadly threat, a moral government has a mandate to remove it.

Regimes such as Saddam Hussein's have no right to rule over one square inch of the globe, let alone develop weapons of mass destruction. If the United States decides to take him out, it has every right to do so. And with moral certitude of our right to defend ourselves, we should support such action -- we don't have to wait until a hijacked plane is flown into the Rialto or nerve gas is released in Sydney Harbour.

John Dawson
McKinnon, Victoria, Australia