I have always admired the professionalism of a career diplomat in US Ambassador Marie Huhtala. But allow me to speak as a human being and a parent, deviod of the rhetoric which blurs our distinction as special beings with souls.

Secretary Colin Powell presented his arguments supported o­nly by uncorroborated evidence which would not have been sufficient to convict an accused of a felony in an American court of law.

And yet he is asking for support for US and UK to fire a blanket of 800 missiles into Iraq o­n the very first day of the desired offensive.

This Hiroshima-like effect will not distinguish between Iraqi soldiers from the whole population of women and children who are definitely innocent and not accused of any crime. Have they not suffered enough already under Saddam Hussein and the real effects of United Nations embargo?

US can very well be the advocate, but please allow the UN to be the tribunal that decides o­n a country's guilt and the corresponding punitive actions.

Is that too much to ask of a nation founded o­n the priciples of justice and equality? You cannot be both judge, prosecutor and jury when too much of humanity is at stake.

Please be reminded that the essence of the findings at the Nuremberg Trials was that there are accepted limits to professional ethics. It is called the human conscience, the o­ne that feels for orphaned children and widowed mothers.

While I pray that my country will never be in a situation like Iraq today, I do not envy the Americans for the moral decisions they have to grapple with, now and after. For all our sake, be human.