IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRY
2) PROTEST WHEN NATO COMES TO LONDON
3) "DEEPLY SADDENED" AGAIN AND AGAIN
4) GEORGE BUSH DESPERATE FOR "TROPHY STRIKE"
5) IRAQI ART UNDER OCCUPATION
6) YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP: NO. 2847
*************************************
1) THE WORLD'S MOST DANGEROUS COUNTRY
Iraq is the most dangerous country in the world. With at
least a million civilians killed since the illegal invasion
in 2003, the daily toll of death and destruction outstrips
any other country, however much the mainstream media peddles
George Bush's propaganda that his "surge" is working.
Journalist Patrick Cockburn, described recently the all too
frequent reality for the Iraqi people:
"A car bomb exploded in the Shia market town of Dujail,
north of Baghdad, killing 32 people and wounding 43 others.
"The smoke filled my house and the shrapnel broke some of
the windows," said Hussein al-Dujaili. "I went outside the
house and saw two dead bodies at the gate which had been
thrown there by the explosion. Some people were in panic and
others were crying." (See
http://tinyurl.com/5tgp9d )
There are 4,500 British troops in the midst of this brutal
occupation and the horrific instability it has brought in
its wake. They almost never leave their base at Basra
airport, on the outskirts of the city. Their only function
-- at a cost to the British taxpayer of around one billion
pounds a year -- is to provide political cover for George
Bush's continuing aggression against the Iraqi people and
the pillaging of the country's resources.
The most recent polls show that the majority of Iraqi and
British people continue to want all foreign troops to be
withdrawn. But, just as George Bush insists he plans to
reduce US troop levels (they are in fact as high as they
have ever been in the last five years), Gordon Brown has
reneged on the promises he made when he became prime
minister that he would make sizeable reductions in 2008. In
practice, the number of British troops withdrawn from Iraq
has been pitifully low.
Stop the War's demonstration at the Labour Party's national
conference on Saturday 20 September will include the call
for all British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq now. It's a
message we will do all we can to press home for as long as
there is a single soldier left in Iraq.
MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD - STOP THE SPREAD OF WAR
DEMONSTRATE AT THE LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE
SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER: ASSEMBLE 12.30PM
ALL SAINTS, MANCHESTER M15
Updates:
http://www.stopwar.org.ukTRANSPORT DETAILS: See
http://tinyurl.com/696px8 or call 020
;
7278 6694
LEAFLETS: Call 020 7278 6694 or download at
http://www.stopwar.org.uk*************************************
2) PROTEST WHEN NATO COMES TO LONDON
NATO defence ministers are meeting in London on Thursday 18
September and Friday 19 September. They will be here for
'talks about NATO reorganisation' and the discussions will
be chaired by our very own defence minister Des Browne.
Items on the agenda include Afghanistan, US incursions into
Pakistan and the 'Star Wars' missile defence project.
Well might the NATO warmongers discuss Pakistan, which has
been a key ally of the US in the 'war on terror', against
popular opinion in the country which says the alliance has
brought nothing but violence and instability. The risk of
igniting a regional war is clearly contained in the illegal
US attacks on Pakistani territory, which in the past two
weeks have killed at least 60 Pakistani civilians. The
chilling shadow over George Bush's decision to sanction
covert military action is that Pakistan is a nuclear armed
state.
The US Missile Defence Shield is also on the NATO agenda.
The Georgian crisis a few weeks ago has prompted
acceleration of the 'Star Wars' project. The Polish
government, despite widespread opposition in Poland, has
agreed to provide bases for the US Interceptor missiles, yet
another potential provocation to war in Eastern
Europe.
Stop the War Coalition and the Campaign for Nuclear
Disarmament are calling a joint protest at the NATO meeting
on Thursday 18 September and we're asking all our supporters
in London to be there if they can and to help make this a
noisy protest. Please publicise the protest as widely as
possible.
NATO COMES TO LONDON
STOP THE SPREAD OF WAR
NO TO US MISSILE DEFENCE
Thursday 18 September, 12.30pm
Lancaster House
Stable Yard Road,
London SW1A 1BB
(Nearest tube Green Park)
FURTHER INFORMATION:
A Stop the War briefing on NATO by Kate Hudson, Chair of
CND, is available here:
http://tinyurl.com/6ml2tyNO TO NATO DEMONSTRATION APRIL 2009
On 4-5 April 2009, an international protest, supported by
Stop the War and antiwar organisations across Europe, is
being organised outside the NATO conference in Strasbourg,
France, which will mark the 60th anniversary of NATO's
foundation. The call will be for NATO, a driving force
behind global war, to be dismantled. More details to follow.
*************************************
3) "DEEPLY SADDENED" AGAIN AND AGAIN
UK defence minister Des Browne's well of sadness is clearly
very deep. In the past week he was three times "deeply
saddened" by the deaths of three more British soldiers in
Afghanistan. This brings to 120 the number of military
casualties killed so far in this unwinnable war.
It's always worth recalling that when Browne's predecessor,
John Reid, deployed British troops to Helmand --
Afghanistan's most dangerous province -- he certainly didn't
anticipate being "deeply saddened" on a weekly basis. Rather
he looked forward to the troops leaving "without a shot
being fired".
With George Bush announcing a "quiet surge" of more troops
to be sent to Afghanistan and British defence officials
talking of the British army staying there "for a
generation", there's clearly going to be a lot more
pointless death and destruction.
The anti-war movement has always insisted that there is no
hope of progress in Afghanistan while it is occupied by
foreign forces. It is our task to mobilise all available
pressure on the government to act in accordance with the
majority view of people in this country and in Afghanistan
that all troops should be withdrawn. Which is why we will be
demonstrating on Saturday 12 September, at the Labour
Party's annual conference, with the clear message, Troops
Home Now.
PAMPHLET: AFGHANISTAN: WHY WE SHOULD GET OUT
Stop the War has published a new pamphlet, called
Afghanistan: Why We Should Get Out, with an introduction by
John Pilger. It will be on sale for £1 (reductions for bulk
orders) at Saturday's demonstration in Manchester and can be
ordered from Stop the War's national office: Tel 020 7278
6694
*************************************
4) GEORGE BUSH DESPERATE FOR "TROPHY STRIKE"
George Bush has signed a secret order allowing US troops to
operate in Pakistan, without permission from the Pakistani
government or agreement by the United Nations, contravening
numerous international laws and conventions. Bush says the
recent ground assault by US commandos and the big increase
in the number of US missiles fired from unmanned aircraft
are directed at al-Qaeda leaders, but the Pakistani
government and local observers say that most of the dozens
killed in these attacks have been civilians, the majority of
them women and children.
The Guardian newspaper suggests a different interpretation
for these attacks: "Bush is thought to be in a desperate
push for a trophy strike… before he leaves office." No doubt
part of the calculation is the hope that this will boost the
electoral chances of John McCain in his campaign to succeed
Bush as president. (See
http://tinyurl.com/68jpda )
Since 1945, American has bombed 25 countries round the
world, killing many millions of people (some estimates put
the figure as high as 20 million). But George Bush has a
message for all the families grieving as a result of his
contribution to this horrendous scale of mass slaughter. He
recently expressed his sorrow, following the US attack in
Afghanistan which killed 90 civilians: "I am a partner in
your loss and that of the Afghan people."
And, of course, all those grieving families will be
comforted by an earlier Bush pronouncement: "America is a
Nation with a mission -- and that mission comes from our
most basic beliefs. We have no desire to dominate, no
ambitions of empire. Our aim is a democratic peace -- a
peace founded upon the dignity and rights of every man and
woman."
*************************************
5) IRAQI ART UNDER OCCUPATION
RIDING ON FIRE is an exhibition of paintings and sculptures
which have been created by Iraqi artists who are determined
to keep art alive while everything around them is falling
apart. It opens in London on 19 September and is highly
recommended to all our supporters as a testament to how
artists manage to remain creatively active, producing
stunning works of art, in an unimaginably hostile
environment.
It is only through overcoming hurdles and hazards which can
be literally a matter of life and death that these
twenty-two artists have been able to create their paintings
and sculptures and get them transported to us in London.
Stop the War is proud to have helped in the organisation of
RIDING WITH FIRE: IRAQI ART UNDER OCCUPATION, which will run
at the Artiquea Gallery in south London from 19 September-31
October. ( See:
http://www.artiquea.co.uk )
RIDING WITH FIRE:
IRAQI ART UNDER OCCUPATION
19 September - 31 October
Artiquea Gallery
82 Wandsworth Bridge Road
London SW6 2TF
FOR MORE DETAILS:
WWW:
http://www.artiquea.co.uk/ TEL: 020 7731 2090
EMAIL:
info@artiquea.co.uk*************************************
6) YOU COULDN'T MAKE IT UP: NO. 2847
"Things are better in Iraq. Life is returning to normal."
This is the propaganda story from George Bush and the puppet
Iraqi government, a story dutifully spread -- to its
continuing shame -- by the mainstream media,. One supposed
indicator of the good life returning to Iraqis is the
announcement of lavish plans to build the Baghdad Eye, aimed
to be the world's largest Ferris wheel. Baghdad citizens
will be pleased to know that their city, in which there is
usually only two hours of electricity a day -- and never
enough to meet essential energy needs -- will at least find
the power to rotate a 650 feet tall Ferris wheel, carrying
30 passengers in each of its air conditioned compartments.
