Iraq: Let's demand a proper enquiry

I am forwarding the following to everyone. Stop the War holds no position in respect of 38 degrees. But you may be interested in signing their petition.

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Iraq: Let's demand a proper enquiry

You may be interested in the campaign ‘Iraq: Demand a proper enquiry’, which is being run by an online campaigning organisation called 38 degrees, www.38degrees.org.uk

The campaign was launched this week in response to Gordon Brown finally announcing that there will be an inquiry into the Iraq war. He also announced that he intends it to be held in secret, not report until after the next election, and not apportion any blame. Does that sound like a proper inquiry to you? Brown is hoping that this inquiry will draw a line under the whole episode.

The Iraq war was declared in the face of fierce opposition. Serious questions about its justification and legality remain unanswered. Millions of us marched against the invasion, and many more felt betrayed when claims about Iraq's weapons of mass destruction turned out to be false. Countless thousands of Iraqis have died, as well as 179 British service men and women.

A genuine inquiry would be our chance to understand why all this happened and how to prevent it happening again. A stitched-up, secret inquiry will encourage future governments to think they can get away with the same again.

http://38degrees.org.uk/page/s/IraqInquiry

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Gareth Jenkins

Sec. Hackney Stop The War

Stop attacks on the Muslim community, FRIDAY 26 JUNE 6.30PM BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE

Muslims in Britain face attacks on many fronts. A broadly
based campaign is being launched at a public meeting on Friday
26 June to confront the growth of racist attitudes towards
Muslims and rising governmental and state harassment. It is
supported by Muslim organisations, MPs, trade unionists,
church representatives, members of the legal profession and
prominent figures from the world of arts and media. SEE THE
FOUNDING STATEMENT HERE: http://bit.ly/vXlJ8

LAUNCH MEETING: DEFEND THE MUSLIM COMMUNITY
FRIDAY 26 JUNE 6.30PM
BISHOPSGATE INSTITUTE, BISHOPSGATE, LONDON EC1
(OPPOSITE LIVERPOOL ST TUBE)
SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
George Galloway MP, Daud Abdullah, Diane Abbott MP, Anas al
Tikriti, Ismael Patel, Lindsey German

FULL DETAILS AND TO DOWNLOAD LEAFLET: http://bit.ly/Cee4

IRAQ INQUIRY: PROTEST PARLIAMENT WED 24 JUNE

The scandal over Gordon Brown's decision to hold the Iraq war
inquiry in private has united in condemnation the most
unlikely people, including MPs, peers in the House of Lords,
military leaders, former civil servants, bereaved families and
even Sir Christopher Meyer, Britain's US ambassador at the
time the decision was taken to go to war.

The anger over this appalling decision has intensified with
the revelation that Tony Blair was behind Brown's decision to
have a completely secret inquiry (SEE http://bit.ly/oun55).

A motion calling for a public inquiry is to be debated in
parliament on Wednesday 24 June. Stop the War has called a
protest for 2pm at parliament to insist that there is a full
public inquiry, and not the whitewash Brown has planned,
prompted by Blair.

Stop the War is also asking all its local groups and
supporters to contact their MPs as a matter of urgency, by
letter, telephone, email or fax, and urge them to support the
call for a full public inquiry. A letter from Stop the War to
MPs can be downloaded here: http://bit.ly/GqK1P

There is every chance that Brown will have to make at least a
partial U-turn, but -- as Sir Christopher Meyer says -- there
is no reason why the whole inquiry should not be held in
public. We also need an inquiry with the power to subpoena
witnesses under oath and it needs to be broadly based, rather
than comprising the five establishment toadies appointed by
Brown to produce a cover-up.

Time is short but we need to do all we can to maximise the
pressure on Brown to reverse his scandalous decision. The need
for a full public inquiry has been highlighted yet again by
the leaked government memo from January 2003, which reports on
a meeting between George Bush and Blair, at which they plotted
in secret to commit the supreme crime of an unprovoked act of
aggression. (SEE http://bit.ly/SvSFd)

PROTEST: PARLIAMENT
WEDNESDAY 24 JUNE 2PM
Please publicise as widely as possible.

CONTACT YOUR MP AND URGE HIM/HER TO PRESS
FOR A FULL PUBLIC INQUIRY

Public Meeting: Shut down the Army Showroom in Dalston Thursday 18 June

Public meeting

Shut Down the Army Showroom in Dalston

7.30pm, Thursday 18 June

Round Chapel, Powerscroft Road, E5, Lower Clapton

Speakers:

Councillor Angus Mulready-Jones

Jenny Sutton, College of North East London

George Solomou, Military Families Against the War

Lindsey German, Convenor Stop the War Coalition

Twelve soldiers were killed in Afghanistan in May this year. The death rate is now higher than at any time since the invasion in 2001.

And, at around a thousand major casualties a year, every British soldier in Afghanistan has a one in eight chance of being seriously injured or contracting a serious illness.

Why doesn’t the army tell visitors to its showroom in Dalston about these horrific statistics instead of presenting war as a video game?

Our petitioning shows that people are also concerned at the Army’s attempt to exploit youth unemployment in a poor borough like Hackney.

The war in Afghanistan is getting uglier by the week. British pilots are firing an increasing number of “enhanced blast” thermobaric weapons, designed to kill everyone in buildings they strike. The violence will get worse, warns Lieutenant General Jim Dutton, Nato deputy commander in Afghanistan.

Everyone should ask themselves: is this what we want for the people of Afghanistan or for young people here to become involved in?

Youngsters in Hackney deserve better. The choice shouldn’t be between rotting on the dole or facing death or maiming in Afghanistan. Money should be poured into education, not chopped from college budgets.

Protest: Shut Down the Army Showroom in Dalston, Sat 20 June. Defend the right to protest

Shut Down the Army Showroom in Dalston

Join the protest

Another British soldier has just been killed in Afghanistan. It's time all British troops were withdrawn - for the sake of the Afghan people and the servicemen and women sent to defend a corrupt and unpopular regime.

And it's time the Army Showroom in the Kingsland Shopping Centre, Dalston, was shut down. We don't want any more young people, faced with unemployment, falling for the glossy video images and being sent to kill or die or be maimed in Afghanistan.

We also need to defend the right to protest in the face of the outrageous arrest of one of our supporters, who was assaulted and racially abused, as he was walking to work through the shopping centre.

Join the protest at 1.30pm on Saturday 20 June

at the Kingsland Shopping Centre, Dalston

(opposite Dalston Kingsland train station).

Keep up the pressure!

Public Meeting: Shut down the Army Showroom in Dalston

Thursday 18th June
7.30 pm, Round Chapel
Powerscroft Road, E5
Lower Clapton

Speakers
Lindsey German, Convenor of Stop the War Coalition
Jenny Sutton, College of North East London
George Solomou, Military Families Against the War
Cllr Angus Mulready-Jones

More than 170 British soldiers have been killed in Iraq and more than 150 in Afghanistan. Young ex-servicement are three times more likely to commit suicide than their civilians counterparts. Shelter estimates that over a quarter of homeless people are ex-servicemen and women. Servicemen and women have no employment protection rights. There is a well documented history of bullying and racism in the army. Hundreds of young army recruits go absent without leave every year. 14000 servicemen and women leave the army every year.

CREATE REAL JOBS IN HACKNEY. BRING THE TROOPS HOME.