Searching for a hero: why America has turned to Winston Churchill. (Guardian)
'It is hardly surprising that President George Bush and the hawks in his administration invoke the memory of Sir Winston Churchill with ever growing fervour as they plead the historic necessity of a pre-emptive attack on Iraq. '

'In Britain the wartime prime minister's long public career is associated with many achievements, some of them admired, some remembered with anger or embarrassment. But to Americans, especially conservative Republicans, he symbolises unflinching opposition to appeasement, first to Hitler, then during the cold war to Soviet communism. '

'Never mind that the great man's record is a good deal more complex, and certainly more interesting than the US defence secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, seems to think. He was a social reactionary as well as a champion of liberty, a Victorian aristocrat and imperialist rebranded as a democratic orator in the cauldron of war ... '

The historians' view. Ben Pimlott, warden of Goldsmiths College, London; biographer of the Queen and Harold Wilson :-
"Churchill is the only Englishman any of them has ever heard of, with the possible exception of Shakespeare if they were hard-working at school. President [Lyndon] Johnson once compared Harold Wilson with Churchill. In fact, there is no comparison between Hitler and Saddam Hussein, who is not an expansionist within the region. Americans admire Churchill's brilliance, his language and oratory, his feline style. But Bush is a neanderthal with no knowledge of the world. Churchill had a great deal of knowledge. The key is being friendly to the United States. When the US feels beleaguered and has a friend in the British prime minister, the prime minister gets noticed a bit more."

Philip Ziegler, biographer of Lord Mountbatten, Harold Wilson and Edward VIII :- " ... Churchill is one of the very few non-Americans whom educated or half-educated Americans have been taught to revere. They also associate him with his Iron Curtain speech [in Fulton, Missouri, in 1946] and see it as Churchill's wake-up call for the democracies to oppose the perils of communism."

Peter Hennessy, professor of contemporary history at Queen Mary and Westfield College, London; author of Muddling Through, a History of British Government since 1945 :- " ... As for what Bush and Rumsfeld are doing, when you want to do something and need instant justification with brand recognition, you invoke Munich. Eden also invoked Munich at Suez, he said Nasser was Mussolini. It's not good enough; it just doesn't work; it's not on. It's lazy thinking."

Court refuses to reduce murder charge against Bhopal chief. (Guardian) 'A court in Bhopal, central India, refused yesterday to reduce the murder charge against Warren Anderson, the former chief executive of Union Carbide, for the gas leak from the company's pesticides plant in the city in 1984 which has killed thousands and maimed hundreds of thousands. '
'The chief judicial magistrate, Rameshar Kotha, asked for extradition proceedings to be started to bring Mr Anderson to court from the United States, although his precise whereabouts are unknown. '

Put thirst of poor communities first, demands Mandela. (Guardian) 'Nelson Mandela took the earth summit by the scruff of its neck yesterday, urging politicians to make access to clean water a basic human right and to put water and sanitation much higher up the political, economic and social agendas. '