SIR – Perhaps the main lesson that history teaches us is that history continues to repeat itself.

Unfortunately, the lessons learned are either soon forgotten or conveniently ignored. I recall in the early 1960s that another ex-French colony sought help, this time from the USA, as its own forces were unable to repel the attackers from the north. Sound familiar?

The USA began its assistance by only providing logistical support, training, advising etc. Within a few years this had escalated way beyond the original remit and engulfed the entire Indo-Chinese region in warfare. This war in Vietnam created the nightmare in Cambodia and lasted about ten years – most historians agree that this was pretty disastrous for the USA.

Whoever goes into Mali, whatever their intentions, will almost certainly end up making the conflict far worse than it would otherwise be. It will spread all over North Africa and inexorably into the heart of Europe itself.

It could easily set us on the road to a Third World War if we are not careful.

J Gavaghan, Bank Crest, Baildon