BASRA

179 UK troop deaths has been the human cost and £6.44 bn has been the financial cost of the UK military operation in Iraq as well as approximately 3500 Iraqi civilian deaths according to the BBC. Others claim that the lowest estimates of the Iraqi death toll are around 100000, the highest more than one million. Then there are the 4266 deaths in the U.S. armed forces.

I have great respect for those who have served our country and great sympathy for all those families in the U.K., the U.S. and Iraq who now bear the agony of having lost their loved ones.

In our modern and developed age communication has been found to be at the forefront of progress. Al Jazeera has pioneered a new front in bridging the information gulf between the Christian and Muslim world and between the Democratic and Terrorist communities. This drive to have access to a comprehensive and multicultural perspective on world issues is essential in our pursuit of peace.

We must now open up channels of communication between all groups, however unpalatable that may seem and we must explore a proactive foreign policy that looks to invest £6.44bn or more in goodwill initiatives over the next six years in areas of conflict to try to preempt future hostilities.

Then there may be a hope that deaths will not form part of the budget for future operations.