STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER No. 2006/41
07
November 2006
Email
office@stopwar.org.uk
Telephone 020 7278 6694
Web: www.stopwar.org.uk
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) MPS VOTE FOR IRAQ WAR YET AGAIN
2) PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY:
ISLAMOPHOBIA AND THE WAR ON TERROR
3) SADDAM HANGS: MASS SLAUGHTER CONTINUES
4) MUSLIM ATTACKS: SIGN THE OPEN LETTER
5) REMEMBERING THE DEAD OF TODAY'S WARS
6) 10,000 QUIT BRITISH ARMY EACH YEAR
9) NEO-CON RATS JUMP BUSH'S SINKING SHIP
8) ISRAEL'S BARBARISM STILL UNCHECKED
9) BRIZE NORTON: 2 DECEMBER
TROOPS HOME NOW DEMONSTRATION
10) HOUSMANS PEACE DIARY
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1) MPS VOTE FOR IRAQ WAR
YET AGAIN
Last week Parliament had chance
to pass judgement on the Iraq war for the first time since before the
invasion in 2003. The motion called for an inquiry into the war but
everyone knew that, if it was passed, it
would have been an indictment of Tony Blair and his warmongering
government. Thirty-eight Labour MPs had previously signed motions calling
for an inquiry. When last week a motion, proposed by Plaid Cymru and the
SNP, was finally heard in the House of infomons, only 12 Labour MPs voted
in favour, the rest effectively supporting Tony Blair.
In the words of Observer
journalist Henry Porter, those Labour MPs failed parliament. But worse
still, they failed the majority of their constituents who -- as opinion
polls have consistently shown -- believe Tony Blair lied to take this
country into an illegal war and who want the troops withdrawn from Iraq
now. This was a shameful day when Labour MPs put narrow party politics
above their supposed opposition to the carnage in Iraq.
READ THE STOP THE WAR COALITION
STATEMENT HERE:
http://tinyurl.info/y95y6q
READ SIMON JENKINS: GOD'S GIFT TO DICTATORSHIP HERE:
http://tinyurl.info/y6274s
READ HENRY PORTER: LABOUR MPS FAIL PARLIAMENT HERE:
http://tinyurl.info/y7k965
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2) PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY:
ISLAMOPHOBIA AND THE WAR ON TERROR
Attacks on Muslims continue to be
reported, following the inflammatory statements by Jack Straw, John Reid
and other politicians who feel that allying themselves to the hysterical
Islamophobia of the tabloid media is a good career move.
In the wake of these attacks, the
People's Assembly in London on Saturday 18 November, organised by Stop the
War to discuss ISLAMOPHOBIA AND THE WAR ON TERROR, is attracting a very
high level of interest, with block bookings being made by peace groups,
trade unions, religious and infomunity organisations and political
campaigns.
Many signing up for the assembly
have expressed their anger and frustration at parliament's failure last
week to take the opportunity to represent the views of their constituents,
the vast majority of whom oppose the Iraq war, highlighting once again the
"democratic deficit" we have in this country.
The assembly will be open to all
and will aim to bring together the broadest possible representation from
all sections of society. We will discuss how the attacks on Muslims are
intrinsically linked to the wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan and how the anti-war movement can counter those
attacks in its continuing campaign to end those wars.
Speakers at the assembly include:
Tony Benn, Moazzam Begg (ex-Guantanamo detainee), broadcaster Mark
Steel, Anas al Tikriti, Lindsey German (Stop the War), Walter Wolfgang
(Labour NEC), Salma Yaqoob, Mohammed Abdul Khar and Abdul Koyair (wrongly
arrested Forest Gate brothers), playwright David Edgar and Kate Hudson
(chair, CND).
PEOPLE'S ASSEMBLY ISLAMOPHOBIA
AND THE WAR ON TERROR
SATURDAY 18 NOVEMBER: 10AM – 5.30PM
CAMDEN CENTRE, JUDD STREET, LONDON WC1H 9JE
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3) SADDAM HANGS: MASS
SLAUGHTER CONTINUES
No one in the anti-war movement
will shed a tear for Saddam Hussein, whatever his fate. Many people
opposing the Bush/Blair wars today campaigned against Saddam's tyrannical
regime in the 1980s, when he was supported by both the US and British
governments, who sold him chemicals for his weapons of mass destruction,
and defended him at the very time he was infomitting the atrocities for
which he has now been sentenced.
Whatever the justice of the
Baghdad court's verdict, the reality of who controls Iraq's judicial
system is all too obvious from its timing, infoing just two days before the
US congressional elections, with George
Bush's Republican party apparently facing a collapse in its support. This
is due largely to the disastrous war in Iraq, with only 8% of Americans
now supporting Bush's policy of "staying the course". (SEE
http://tinyurl.info/yzvo5y)
But the reaction of George
Bush, Tony Blair and their partners in war crimes to Saddam's conviction
is nauseating. As writer Robert Fisk says, "Have ever justice and
hypocrisy been so obscenely joined?" Fisk describes "the
hell-disaster we that we have inflicted upon Iraq":
"Death is now visited upon even
more Iraqis than Saddam was able to inflict on his Shias and Kurds and -
yes, in Fallujah of all places - his Sunnis, too. So we cannot even claim
moral superiority. For if Saddam's immorality and wickedness are to be the
yardstick against which all our iniquities are judged, what does that say
about us? We only sexually abused prisoners and killed a few of them and
murdered some suspects and carried out a few rapes and illegally invaded a
country which cost Iraq a mere 600,000 lives ("more or less", as George
Bush Jnr said when he claimed the figure to be only 30,000). Saddam was
much worse. We can't be put on trial. We can't be hanged." (SEE
http://tinyurl.info/y3cuek)
Saddam's death sentence will not
be a decisive moment in Iraq, any more than all the other "milestones"
that George Bush has announced in the last three years. Whether Saddam is
hanged or not, the carnage in Iraq will continue, because it is foreign
occupation which is causing death rates among Iraqis to run at higher
levels now than at any time since the illegal invasion in March 2003. (For
the latest statistics, SEE:
http://tinyurl.info/eg5gn)
There is only one solution to the
mass slaughter and destruction which has turned Iraq into hell on earth.
All occupation troops must leave now so that Iraqis can decide for
themselves how they want to be governed and control their own resources.
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4) ATTACKS ON MUSLIMS: SIGN
THE OPEN LETTER
Hundreds of people are now signing Stop the War's open letter opposing the
attacks on Muslims, provoked by elements in the media and by unscrupulous
government ministers such as Jack Straw, John Reid and Ruth Kelly.
Those signing now include Tony
Benn; Labour Party NEC member Walter Wolfgang; MPs John McDonnell, George
Galloway and Jeremy Corbyn; journalists and broadcasters John Pilger, Mark
Thomas, Mark Steel and Yvonne Ridley; trade union leaders Paul Mackney,
Jeremy Dear and Billy Hayes; Salma Yaqoob, Dr Azzam Tamimi; Moazzam
Begg, and from the world of the arts, Benjamin Zephaniah, Miriam Margolyes,
Ed Harcourt, David Edgar and Katie Mitchell.
HELP FUND PUBLICATION OF THE OPEN
LETTER
Stop the War now plans to reprint
the open letter, with signatories, in a national newspaper advertisement,
to publicise as widely as we can our opposition to the climate of fear and
intimidation that Muslim infomunities are experiencing. We urgently need
donations to fund the cost of this advert. Please help us in any way you
can:
* By adding your name to the
letter
* By making an online contribution here:
http://tinyurl.info/pwl74
* By making a credit/debit card payment: 020 7278 6694
* By sending a cheque made out to 'Stop the War Coalition' to Stop the War
Coalition, 27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP
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5) REMEMBERING THE DEAD OF
TODAY'S WARS
When Tony Blair joins the royal family, other politicians and religious
leaders at The Cenotaph in Whitehall on November 12 for remembrance Sunday
-- the traditional day for infomemorating the millions who have died in war
- we can be certain that there will be no two minute silence for the
hundreds of thousands who have died as a result of the Bush/Blair wars in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
Stop the War believes the
anti-war movement must ensure that those who have been killed in the
current wars are also infomemorated on remembrance weekend. Vigils and
other events will be held across the country on Saturday 11 November at
local war memorials and in town centres.
MILITARY FAMILIES AT THE CENOTAPH
In London at the Cenotaph, Whitehall on 11 November, 2pm - 4pm, Military
Families Against the War will hold a vigil and remembrance ceremony.
Attending will be families who have lost loved ones in Iraq or Afghanistan
and families of soldiers currently serving. If you live in London, please
support the military families who are opposing the Bush/Blair wars and
seeking justice and accountability for their relatives whose live have
been so tragically wasted in illegal and unwanted wars. (Please dress in
appropriate dark clothing.)
FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE
MILITARY FAMILIES CAMPAIGN, GO TO:
http://www.mfaw.org.uk/
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6) 10,000 QUIT BRITISH ARMY
EACH YEAR
The wars being fought in Iraq and Afghanistan have triggered a wave of
resignations among servicemen and women. A damning report by the National
Audit Office found that disillusionment has increased among servicemen and
women to such an extent that 10,000 personnel are quitting the Forces each
year.
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7) NEO-CON RATS JUMP BUSH'S SINKING SHIP
Two of the main architects of the
Iraq war were the neo-conservatives Richard Perle and Kenneth Adelman, who
in the run up to the war were rarely off the TV screens arguing that the
invasion would bring stability and democracy to the Middle East and who
since then have consistently supported the occupation.
Now they have decided to
jump George Bush's sinking ship, recognising like everyone else outside of
George Bush, Tony Blair and their government ministers, that the war is,
in Perle's words "a disaster". Adelman says that in retrospect he thinks
the war was a mistake. If your stomach will bear more from these two
neo-cons up to their necks in the blood of hundreds of thousands of
Iraqis, go here to read further Comments:
http://tinyurl.info/yelvpk
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8) ISRAEL'S BARBARISM STILL
UNCHECKED
It is a contravention of the Fourth Geneva convention for armies to fail
to make a distinction between unarmed civilians and armed infobatants.
Israel continually violates its obligations under the convention, to which
it is a signatory. Doctor Mona Elfarra has been covering the attacks from
inside Beit Hanoun, under siege by Israel and where over 50 Palestinians
have been killed in the last week. Read her report here:
http://tinyurl.info/zgwgn
SEE ALSO: The hidden horrors of
Israel's attack on Palestinian civilians In Gaza: Images that the
Israeli and U.S. government's don't want you to see. (Please note
this site contains very disturbing content).
http://tinyurl.info/yegxzv
LOBBY OF PARLIAMENT WED 29
NOVEMBER
Called by Palestine Solidarity
Campaign and many other organisations
STOP STARVING THE PALESTINIANS:
STOP ARMING ISRAEL
Restore Aid to the Palestinian Authority. Release Palestinian
Parliamentarians. Respect Palestinian Democracy. FOR DETAILS GO TO:
http://tinyurl.info/yybeps
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9) BRIZE NORTON: 2
DECEMBER TROOPS HOME NOW DEMONSTRATION
A national TROOPS HOME NOW
demonstration will be held on 2 December at Brize Norton, Britain's
biggest military base, which is the main transport base for sending troops
and supplies in and out of Iraq and Afghanistan. In August this year it
was used by US planes taking munitions to the Israeli Defense Force to
bomb Lebanon.
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10) HOUSMANS PEACE DIARY
Housmans Peace Diary 2007, which
includes an international directory of more than 2000 peace and radical
groups and organizations is available, price £8.95, here:
http://tinyurl.info/ymnwhh
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