STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER No. 1141
15 February 2010
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7801 2768
Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) WHEN THE ENEMY VANISHES - KILL CIVILIANS
2) YOUR CHANCE TO MEET DAVID MILIBAND ON TOUR
3) VIDEO: THE DAY THE WORLD SAID NO TO WAR
4) PROTEST AT JOE GLENTON'S COURT MARTIAL
5) IF YOU LIVE IN CENTRAL LONDON OR…
6) SONG OF THE WEEK WITH VIDEO
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1) WHEN THE ENEMY VANISHES - KILL CIVILIANS
Nato's current offensive in the town of Marjah is being
portrayed as a low casualty mission in the "good war" to get
rid of the Taliban.
If you were to believe the news broadcasts, it's already a
success.
Since the assault was always intended to be as much a
publicity stunt as serving any military objective, Barack
Obama and Gordon Brown will certainly be pleased at how the
media has snapped into line and acted as stenographers for
Nato press releases.
The truth is, most of the few hundred Taliban fighters in
Marjah vanished well before the much touted offensive began,
not being stupid enough to face up to 15,000 of the most
heavily armed troops on the planet.
Much of what we've seen on the TV screens looks like random
firing into empty space to give the cameras footage for the
evening news bulletins.
But with very few enemy to engage it wasn't long -- two days
in fact-- before tragedy struck when a missile attack looking
for Taliban to kill managed to slaughter 12 civilians, five of
them children -- the very people this war was supposedly
tailored to keep out of harm's way.
The attack on Marjah is no different from the numerous other
Nato "clear, hold and build" missions -- except in the amount
of media ballyhoo.
And there's no reason why this should be different in the
outcome, with the Taliban withdrawing tactically and biding
its time, before infiltrating back into the town, once the
overblown Operation Moshtarak, and its accompanying media
circus, has moved on to some other flashpoint of resistance to
foreign occupation.
The only reason the invading armies continue fighting a war
that cannot be won is in the hope that some escape route can
be found, from Obama and Brown's "war of necessity", which
will leave in tact the credibility of the Western powers'
ability to invade other countries with impunity.
The deaths of the 12 civilians this weekend is a brutal
reminder of the heavy price many Afghans will pay in the
months and years to come to save the face of those responsible
for prosecuting a futile and unjustifiable war.
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2) YOUR CHANCE TO MEET DAVID MILIBAND ON TOUR
Foreign Secretary David Miliband will be touring Britain in
the coming weeks, holding Labour Party meetings to discuss
Britain's foreign policy.
He has been much in the news recently, having failed in his
protracted attempt to cover up British involvement in
kidnapping and torturing -- a defining feature of the "war on
terror".
Britain is long past that era when a minister caught deceiving
the British public on this scale, would have had to resign.
All the more reason why everywhere he goes to speak he is met
by protests over his collusion with torture and his continuing
advocacy of a war which in the past week alone has seen seven
British soldiers killed.
Stop the War is asking its local groups to organise protests
in towns and cities where Miliband is speaking. His first
meeting is in London this Friday.
DAVID MILIBAND PROTEST
TROOPS OUT OF AFGHANISTAN
FRIDAY 19 FEBRUARY 6.00PM
ST PAUL'S CHURCH
HAMMERSMITH BROADWAY
LONDON W6
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3) VIDEO: THE DAY THE WORLD SAID NO TO WAR
Today is the seventh anniversary of the biggest demonstration
in history that took place on 15 February 2003.
A must watch trailer for a feature length documentary, which
will be both a historical record and a celebration of an
unforgettable day, is now available on the Stop the War
website (see http://bit.ly/FeWuS). The film is titled WE ARE
MANY and the brilliantly directed trailer certainly whets the
appetite for the film to come.
The filmmaker, Amir Amirani, writing with playwright Caryl
Churchill in the Guardian, sums up the central theme of the
film: "The legacy of 2003 is that today many feel that it
would be impossible for any government, even one convinced of
a case for a just war, to carry the nation with it. Wars
corrode our political system. But protest is the engine of
democracy." (Read here: http://bit.ly/bGRHpA)
It's a lesson drawn by Lindsey German, national convenor of
Stop the War, who says, "It's still hard to believe how many
marched, and looking at the pictures now it brings back
memories which will be with me forever.
"If we had succeeded on that day, the world would have been a
better and safer place. But that demonstration was not the end
of the story. We have kept campaigning over Iraq and over
Afghanistan, Palestine and Iran.
"The warmongers have been disgraced in the public mind but
still need to be held to account. Most importantly we must
keep organising to end the existing wars and occupations and
to stop future ones."
VIDEO: WE ARE MANY: http://bit.ly/FeWuS
SEE ALSO: http://www.wearemany.tv
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4) PROTEST AT JOE GLENTON'S COURT MARTIAL
Lance Corporal Joe Glenton, the British Soldier who refused to
return to Afghanistan, faces court martial on Friday 5 March.
As a result of his brave public campaigning against the war
and the support he has received from the anti-war movement,
the Ministry of Defence has dropped the most serious charge of
desertion.
However, Joe still faces the possibility of a prison term of
up to two years and Stop the War is calling a protest at the
court martial when he appears.
The court martial will be held in Colchester and Stop the War
is asking its supporters to publicise the protest as widely as
possible.
Anyone wishing to join us and who requires transport from
outside London should contact our national office: Call 020
7801 2768 or email office@stopwar.org.uk.
Protest To Defend Joe Glenton
9.30am Friday 5 March
The Military Court Centre
Merville Barracks
Off Butt Rd
Colchester CO2 7UT
FOR UPDATES ON JOE'S CASE SEE: http://bit.ly/2vHCKR
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5) IF YOU LIVE IN CENTRAL LONDON OR…
Stop the War has numerous local groups across the country and
covering most areas of London. A Stop the War supporter in
central London is planning to set up a group and urges anyone
who lives there and would like to get involved to contact her
through our national office.
If there is no local Stop the War group where you live, or in
the college where you study, and you would like to set one up
, the national office can provide advice, resources, speakers
for meetings etc.
STOP THE WAR NATIONAL OFFICE:
Call 020 7801 2768 or email office@stopwar.org.uk.
******************************
6) SONG OF THE WEEK WITH VIDEO
This week's anti-war song of the week is a new version of 19
by Paul Hardcastle, an anti-war track selling in its millions
in the 1980's. Paul says: "The similarities between Vietnam
and Afghanistan are quite alarming." Here the song with video
here: http://bit.ly/bXD59p
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