Stop the War Coalition Newsletter

No. 1109  05 August 2009  
Email office@stopwar.org.uk  
Tel: 020 7801 2768  
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk 
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:  
1) SOLDIER FACING COURT MARTIAL JOINS STOP THE WAR  
2) JULY THE MONTH OF WORSTS: CAMPAIGN NOW FOR 24 OCTOBER  
3) DON’T DEMONSTRATE AGAINST WAR – OR ELSE 
4) STOP THE WAR’S LETTER TO THE IRAQ INQUIRY 
5) ANTI-WAR SONGS OF THE WEEK 
6) FOLLOW STOP THE WAR ON TWITTER

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1) SOLDIER FACING COURT MARTIAL JOINS STOP THE WAR

Court martial proceedings have began against Lance Corporal  
Joe Glenton, the first British soldier to speak out publicly  
against the war in Afghanistan. Joe has joined the Stop the  
War Coalition and intends to deny desertion, calling an expert 
on international law to argue against the legality of the war 
in Afghanistan.

Joe delivered a letter to Gordon Brown last week at Downing  
Street giving his reasons for refusing to fight an unjust war 
(read letter here: http://bit.ly/eO3V0).

His case has received widespread media coverage, including the 
BBC TV News discussion between Lindsey German, national  
convenor of Stop the War, and Major-General Sir Patrick  
Cordingly, who led the British army in the first Gulf War  
against Iraq (see the video of the discussion here:  
http://bit.ly/GZU3s)

EMAIL YOUR SUPPORT TO: joeisinnocent@hotmail.co.uk.  
DOWNLOAD THE DEFEND CORPORAL JOE GLENTON PETITION:  
http://bit.ly/10gDKb

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2) JULY THE MONTH OF WORSTS: CAMPAIGN NOW FOR 24 OCTOBER

July was the worst month since the invasion in 2001 for Afghan 
civilian deaths and for British and US soldiers killed. It was 
also the worst month for serious injuries to British troops.  
(See here for more details: http://bit.ly/ztpvo)

There have now been 192 lives of British soldiers lost in the 
senseless war in Afghanistan. The 200 threshold will sadly be 
passed in the near future. Stop the War’s local groups across  
the country will be organising Naming the Dead ceremonies on  
the following Saturday (contact the Stop the War office if you 
would like to participate: office@stopwar.org.uk; 020 7801  
2768)

With Gordon Brown still having the nerve to call July’s  
military operations a "success", the importance of the 
campaign to build the biggest possible Troops Home Now 
demonstration on 24 October – called by Stop the War, CND and  
BMI -- was never clearer. (Download initial leaflet here:  
http://bit.ly/1UxUut)

Over the past few weeks, Stop the War’s local groups have  
experienced unprecedented feeling against the war in  
Afghanistan, with people queuing at street stalls to sign  
petitions calling for the troops to come home.

Another sign of growing anger over this war has been the sharp 
increase in people contacting the Stop the War national office 
offering to help in our campaign. If you would like to get  
involved too: office@stopwar.org.uk; 020 7801 2768.

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3) DON’T DEMONSTRATE AGAINST WAR – OR ELSE

Lindsey German’s latest blog discusses the proposal suggested  
under new procedures for becoming a British citizen, whereby  
applicants may be penalised for demonstrating against British 
troops, which apparently could be seen as "an active disregard 
of UK values".

As Lindsey writes, "Since public opinion, according to all  
polls, wants a rapid withdrawal of all troops from  
Afghanistan, then anti-war demos more represent 'UK values'  
than the vociferous pro war lobby of military and  
politicians."

You can read Lindsey’s blog here: http://bit.ly/C9Obf

Lindsey also had the pleasure of a confrontation on BBC Radio 
this week with Colonel Tim Collins, the army officer who  
gained some notoriety from his speech to his regiment on the  
eve of the Iraq war, when he clearly saw himself as a 
reincarnation of Shakespeare's Henry V.

Collins accused Lindsey of "sailing close to the wind" in her 
support of Lance Corporal Joe Glenton’s right to refuse to  
return to Afghanistan. This, said Collins, was tantamount to  
inciting mutiny in the army!

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4) STOP THE WAR’S LETTER TO THE IRAQ INQUIRY

The Stop the War Coalition has written to Sir John Chilcot,  
chair of the panel for the Iraq inquiry requesting that we be 
given the opportunity to present evidence to the inquiry into 
the Iraq war and to propose expert witnesses. We await his  
reply.

You can read Stop the War’s letter here: http://bit.ly/cxOHZ

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5) ANTI-WAR SONGS OF THE WEEK

Many thanks to everyone who sent in suggestions for our  
anti-war song of the week, which is a feature of our website.

We have made one of the suggestions, Hero of War by Rise  
Against, this week’s selection (our thanks to Richard), which  
you can listen to here: http://bit.ly/10HLlX

You can see the full list of songs so far here:  
http://bit.ly/nsHxo

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6) FOLLOW STOP THE WAR ON TWITTER

Follow us here: http://twitter.com/STWuk