Freedom for the Kurds .sx NOT one of your 15 contributors ( April 17 ) proposed that the governments of the countries most concerned , Turkey , Iran and Iraq are central to any discussion of how to save the Kurds .sx Neither Turkey or Iran have met to discuss the political implications or to seek a solution which would enable the Iraqi Kurds to return home .sx There are sound reasons why Iraq could be brought into such discussion , and the key to the early return of the Kurds to their homes in Iraq is the Iraqi government itself .sx Some of your contributors suggested that one way to make Northern Iraq safe for the Kurds would be to re-invade , capture Baghdad and impose terms .sx But diplomacy is a better route , and the conditions for Iraqi co-operation may now be emerging .sx They include the current movement towards democracy in Iraq .sx Such moves indicate that we may soon be able to 'do business' with the Iraq government .sx Two other factors make it more likely that Iraq will co-operate in the relief and resettlement of the Kurds in Northern Iraq .sx The Iraq government is bankrupt .sx It has appealed to the UN for permission to sell oil .sx A UN agency has asked for massive aid to Iraq whose crippled infrastructure is producing more deaths and sickness .sx While the governments which conducted the war are right to send immediate aid to limit the 'collateral' damage to the Kurds , it is essential that the Kurdish homelands of Northern Iraq are made a 'safe haven' .sx The only sure way for such an early return is by encouraging Turkey , Iran and Iraq to sink their differences , consider their mutual problems and responsibilities and work for a peaceful settlement .sx If that includes some element of self-government in the Kurdish area of Northern Iraq the grant of similar autonomy may also be necessary in other Kurdish enclaves outside Iraq , but this need not result in changes of existing borders .sx Renewed war could lead to drastic changes ; the temptation to take this course should be resisted .sx Jim Addington , .sx Surbiton , Surrey .sx SO DOES the fact of sending in Western Troops to northern Iraq mean that the new world order works after all ?sx I think not .sx In seeking to deny it , President Bush has already underlined the point .sx It is too little and too late .sx The oppression of the Kurds does not date from the end of the Gulf war .sx It can be traced back to the end of the First World War , when the West's carving the map of the Middle East excluded an independent Kurdistan .sx The West's involvement now is a matter of political expediency .sx A result of public and press pressure .sx The logic behind it is another matter .sx Despite what Bush says it really is the logic of the Vietnam War .sx The Gulf War had several aims .sx One was certainly to keep control of oil for the West .sx Another was to clip the territorial ambitions of Saddam Hussein .sx A third was to erase the memory of America's defeat in Vietnam .sx But such things are not erased so easily .sx A war once started throws up a whole number if uncomfortable questions .sx If not democracy in either Kuwait or Iraq , then surely at least , freedom for the Kurds ?sx And what of the Palestinians ?sx Bush's nightmare is not over .sx It is just beginning .sx Keith Flett .sx London N11 .sx Dishing the dirt on nuclear power .sx I AM surprised that Geoffrey Taylor can be so vigorous an apologist for the beleaguered nuclear industry , yet remains seriously out of touch with the progress of the renewable energy sector ( Terms of Reference , April 15) .sx Having heard a senior Department of Energy official state that wind power , biomass , wave energy etc. now figure prominently in government plans alongside so called " conventional " energy sources .sx I find it exasperating to read yet again that future UK energy supply can only be guaranteed by 'dirty' fossil fuels or 'clean' nuclear power .sx No lobby is suggesting that wind power alone can fill the technological gap left by the discredited nuclear industry - merely that the combination of diverse renewable energy resources can make a very substantial contribution in the near future .sx Most of California's pioneering wind turbines were built in a hasty response to generous tax breaks , and therefore represent the Model T Fords or Commodore PETs of the nascent wind industry - early attempts at mass productions , already superseded by much quieter and more visually appealing machines .sx The focus of attention has shifted , anyway , to the major wind power programmes under way in Denmark , the Netherlands , Sweden , Germany and even Spain .sx Britain is already late in joining the band-wagon , and likely to miss out altogether , if sensible planning policy guidelines and real windfarms do not follow soon .sx Geoffrey Taylor may be correct in his assessment of Britain's " voodoo " treatment of its nuclear industry , but we are verging on more Tragically Wasted Years if we do not strike the right balance between assessment and deployment of renewable energy technologies .sx ( Dr ) J M O Scurlocjk , .sx Division of Biosphere Sciences , .sx King's College London , .sx University of London .sx GEOFFREY TAYLOR's opinion about the role of the electricity was disappointingly ill-formed , particularly so since the author declares himself a " Card Carrying environmentalist .sx " .sx The importance of wind energy has been recognised by several governments and is being actively encouraged in Germany , the Netherlands and Denmark , where it now generates 2 per cent of electricity .sx Similar encouragement is now in place in the UK .sx The removal of nuclear power from the privatisation of the electricity industry was based on 'disciplined thought' imposed by the City .sx Under its rules it can be shown , very easily and transparently , that wind energy is already cheaper than Mr Taylor's nuclear panacea .sx Windmills are , by their very nature , visible .sx Some think them beautiful .sx Their only impact upon the environment is their visual appearance - surely preferable to invisible pollution from other 'conventional sources' .sx Modern windmills are not noisy .sx If Mr Taylor's only experience of the wind energy industry is the early Californian wind farms , then he should reconsider his position .sx Certainly many of those early machines were ugly and noisy but he should take a look at the modern European farms in Denmark and the Netherlands .sx Soon , I hope , he will have an opportunity to judge them in Britain where we have a raw resource which is the envy of the rest of Europe .sx ( Dr ) A D Garrad , .sx British Wind Energy Association , .sx London W1 .sx GEOFFREY TAYLOR'S suggestion that opposition to nuclear power is based on " timidity " and that the industry should be allowed to develop by trial and error shows scant regard for the thousands who have died , are suffering or will suffer as a result of the Chernobyl disaster .sx He is right to abhor the environmental damage of the industrialised world's reliance on oil .sx However , most oil is used for transport , not for power production as he implies :sx in the OECD countries 48 per cent of their oil requirements is used for transport , while electricity production uses 8.7 per cent .sx The route towards a 'greener' source of energy is not to promote uneconomic and unsafe nuclear reactors , nor fossil fuels .sx A comprehensive programme of energy efficiency is needed , together with an increase in the use of renewables .sx Contrary to Taylor's assertions , renewable forms of energy now provide for about 20 per cent of the world's primary supply ; not just from wind , but also from bio-mass , hydro power and solar energy .sx This figure should be compared with the longer-established nuclear industry's contribution of only 12 per cent .sx Bridget Woodman .sx Greenpeace Nuclear Campaign , .sx London N1 .sx Geoffrey TAYLOR is concerned that Britain's reluctance to invest in nuclear power as widely as France will condemn us to fossil fuelled future .sx His mind could perhaps be put at rest by a 1985 report to the Commission of the European community on wave energy , by Dr Tony Lewis .sx This estimates that the European potential ( excluding Iberia ) for offshore wave power is 92 GW , or 70 per cent of the present EC demand .sx This is about double the present nuclear contribution .sx We could be delighted if he could investigate why this report has been persistently ignored by the EX , and why the Department of Energy went to such lengths to sabotage the UK programme in 1982 .sx We try hard not to be conspiracy theorists , but we wonder whether it is because wave power is the only renewable option that could provide serious quantities of base-load power .sx Thus ( given but a fraction of the nuclear research budget ) it would compete with nuclear power , into which UK in particular has sunk such quantities of both prestige and cash , to such little effect .sx John Valentine .sx Energy spokesman , .sx Green Party .sx Pension less .sx I WRITE to draw attention to the continually worsening plight of hundreds of thousand of pensioners in this country .sx Last week they received the much-publicised 10.9 per cent increase on the basic state pension , bringing it to pounds52 for a single person and pounds83 .sx 25 for a couple .sx This increase was based on last September's inflation figure and was thus six months in arrear sic !sx . Rents were increased ( in many cases a week earlier ) by upwards of 10 per cent including those in sheltered accommodation .sx VAT from 15 per cent to 17 1/2 per cent ( a 16.6 per cent increase ) fuel and food prices are constantly rising .sx Television licences have gone up by pounds5m water rates in this area by 15.2 per cent , electricity by 11 per cent .sx To add insult to injury many pensioners have now lost their entitlement to Income Support and are no longer eligible for free eye tests , dental treatment etc.. It is scandalous that our elderly should be thus treated .sx Where pensioners have been able to save or have a second pension , they , too , are watching their capital disappear in the effort to keep abreast of payment for basic necessities and their extra income becoming less and less adequate to meet their needs .sx Pensioners all over the country are flocking to associations campaign for a decent standard of living .sx In the Anglian region , over 14,000 have joined an association which started only some eighteen months ago .sx Mary Davies .sx Norfolk and Norwich Pensioners' Association , .sx Meadow View , .sx Stacksford , .sx Old Buckenham , .sx Norfolk .sx Baby Food for thought .sx YOU published a disturbing report of the low nutritional value of manufactured babyfoods ( Guardian , April 16) .sx It reminded me that last year when I visited the wing allocated to mothers and babies in Holloway prison I was horrified to discover that these foods were all the mothers were allowed to feed their children .sx Holloway prison has no provision for allowing mothers to prepare fresh food for their babies .sx If the analysis of the low protein content of commercial babyfoods is accurate , then these babies are being malnourished .sx Conditions for women and their babies in prison are far from satisfactory , but the lack of fresh food at such a crucial stage in the development of a young baby is scandalous .sx Mothers in prison suffer terribly , whether they have their little babies with them for a short time , or whether they are separated from their children .sx The Howard league has been very involved in encouraging improved contacts between imprisoned mothers and their children on the outside .sx We applaud the considerable efforts being made by the staff in women's prisons .sx But , these reforms are only hailed as breakthrough because of the dreadful visiting arrangements that went before .sx Far too many babies experience prison .sx In 1989 a total of 101 women served all or part of their sentence with their babies in the prison mother and baby unites , and one third of these women had been convicted of theft or fraud .sx More women experience prison with their babies on remand .sx The poor quality food given by the prison to babies in their care is just one more reason why we should not be imprisoning these mothers and babies in the first place .sx It is not beyond the wit of our criminal justice system to find ways of managing these women in the community .sx Frances Crook , Director , .sx The Howard League , .sx London N19 .sx