IT is good that the African Union is trying to broker a cease-fire in Libya, but there is no reason yet to be optimistic about a settlement.

There is also continued trouble in Syria and Yemen, and in Egypt there still appears a great deal to be resolved.

It strikes me that Turkey is trying to act constructively and it may succeed in moderating the response of Nato. Military involvement can start with limited objectives but, once it gets going, it acquires a logic of its own.

I feel that the people who run this country have shown that they are not capable of learning the lessons from past conflicts.

Heaven alone knows when we will get out of Afghanistan and we could still see British boots on the ground in Libya.

G Bulmer, Billingh