Fw: Protest when the warmongers gather in London
Brian Rayner
----- Original Message -----
From: "Stop the War Coalition" <off...@stopwar.org.uk>
To: <st...@lists.riseup.net>
Sent: Wednesday, January 06, 2010 8:49 PM
Subject: Protest when the warmongers gather in London
> STOP THE WAR COALITION
> NEWSLETTER
> No. 1133 06 January 2010
> Email off...@stopwar.org.uk
> Tel: 020 7801 2768
> Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
> Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
>
> IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
> 1) PROTEST WHEN THE WARMONGERS GATHER IN LONDON
> 2) AT LAST TONY BLAIR MUST EXPLAIN HIS LIES
> 3) LONDON STOP THE WAR ACTIVISTS MEETING
> 4) GAZA ONE YEAR ON: PUBLIC MEETING
> 5) VIVA PALESTINA CONVOY ENTERS GAZA
>
> *********************************
> 1) PROTEST WHEN THE WARMONGERS GATHER IN LONDON
>
> On Thursday 28 January the leaders of the NATO occupation of
> Afghanistan are coming to Central London for a conference
> organised by Gordon Brown to discuss the next steps in their
> war effort. President Karzai, Hilary Clinton, President
> Sarkozy and Angela Merkel are among those expected to attend.
>
> Stop the War will organise a protest at the conference. We
> will publicise time and location as soon as they are
> announced.
>
> The situation for the warmongers is deteriorating sharply.
> Last year was by far the worst since the invasion in 2001 for
> the invading forces, with 108 British soldiers and 319 US
> troops losing their lives in a war with no purpose.
>
> The number of Afghan civilians killed in 2009 also rose
> dramatically, with the UN giving a figure of well over 2000,
> which is undoubtedly an under-estimate of the total, as many
> deaths go unreported.
>
> Gordon Brown claims NATO is committed to a stable and secure
> Afghanistan, but the war has only increased the suffering of
> ordinary people in the world's second poorest country.
>
> This is the environment in which the Taliban continue to grown
> in strength -- with even the commander of the NATO forces
> admitting they control much of the country.
>
> The Taliban infiltration of the Afghan army -- which according
> to Obama and Brown is the long term key to winning the war --
> was highlighted at the end of 2009, when five British soldiers
> and seven CIA operatives were killed in separate incidents by
> Taliban supporters serving in the army.
>
> The western backed Karzai government -- already discredited by
> the farcical presidential "election" -- is in utter disarray,
> following the rejection of Karzai's new cabinet by the Afghan
> parliament. This has made a mockery of Gordon Brown's slogan
> for the conference on 28 January: "Afghan leadership,
> international partnership".
>
> We are told the purpose of the ever mounting death toll is to
> counter the danger of terrorism. But it is clear that far from
> combating terrorism , the 'war on terror' has created more
> enemies for the west and al-Qaeda has spread across the Middle
> East to Somalia, Yemen and beyond.
>
> The one place it isn't, is in Afghanistan, where the US
> government admits there are less than 100 al-Qaeda operatives.
>
> The leaders gathering on 28 January have only one response to
> the catastrophe their war has created. More war. With his
> latest troop surge Obama has doubled the number of troops in
> Afghanistan since he became president. As ever - and despite a
> majority of the British public calling for the troops to be
> withdrawn -- our government follows slavishly wherever US
> foreign policy takes it, and Brown has increased Britain's
> deployment to over 9500.
>
> It is essential that we make clear on 28 January that these
> war policies are opposed by the majority of people in
> virtually every NATO country. Instead of discussing an
> escalation of the war in Afghanistan, Brown's international
> conference should be planning to bring all the troops home.
>
> STOP THE WAR PROTEST
> STOP THE KILLING: BRING THE TROOPS HOME
> INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON AFGHANISTAN
> THURSDAY 28 JANUARY
> CENTRAL LONDON (venue tba)
> We hope you will be able to join us.
>
> FOR UPDATES:
> http://www.stopwar.org.uk
>
> *********************************
> 2) AT LAST TONY BLAIR MUST EXPLAIN HIS LIES
>
> It's not often that war criminals have to account for their
> crimes in public.
>
> Tony Blair will appear for a full day at the Iraq war inquiry
> sometime in the two weeks after January 25.
>
> Stop the War is calling for the biggest possible mobilisation
> at the QE2 Conference Centre in London on the day Blair tries
> to explain the lies which took Britain into an illegal and
> unjustified war.
>
> The outrage that so many people feel because Blair has not
> been held to account must be given full voice. The more public
> pressure there is, the more difficult it will be for the
> inquiry's report to be the complete whitewash that Gordon
> Brown intended when he handpicked Chilcot and his committee
> members.
>
> Many military families will be coming to London to witness the
> evidence of the man responsible for the loss of their love
> ones. Our protest activities will include a naming of the dead
> ceremony, to coincide with Blair giving evidence.
>
> We urge everyone who can, to join the protest at the Iraq
> Inquiry which will demand that Blair is held to account for
> his participation in war crimes which led to the deaths of one
> million Iraqis and 179 British soldiers.
>
> STOP THE WAR PROTEST
> TONY BLAIR AT THE IRAQ INQUIRY
> QUEEN ELISABETH CONFERENCE CENTRE
> WESTMINSTER LONDON SW1P 3EE
> DATE TBA
> For updates see: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
>
> *********************************
> 3) LONDON STOP THE WAR ACTIVISTS MEETING
>
> There will be a London activists meeting, open to all, to plan
> for both Tony Blair's appearance at the Iraq Inquiry and for
> the International Conference on Afghanistan:
>
> Tuesday 12 January
> Bloomsbury Baptist Church
> 235 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8EP
> (Nearest tube station Tottenham Court Road)
> All welcome.
>
> Contact the Stop the War office for more details:
> Email: off...@stopwar.org.uk; Tel: 020 7801 2768
>
> *********************************
> 4) GAZA ONE YEAR ON: PUBLIC MEETING
>
> END THE SIEGE OF GAZA
> BRING ISRAELI WAR CRIMINALS TO JUSTICE
> TUESDAY 19 JANUARY 7PM
> CONWAY HALL, RED LION SQUARE
> LONDON WC1R 4RL
> Organised by Palestine Solidarity Campaign, Stop the War
> Coalition, Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and British Muslim
> Initiative.
>
> SPEAKERS INCLUDE:
> Dr Karma Nabulsi, Oxford University
> Bruce Kent, Vice President Pax Christi
> Sir Gerald Kaufman MP - Just returned from Gaza
> Phyllis Starkey MP
> Lowkey
> Hugh Lanning, Deputy General Secretary PCS
> Daud Abdullah, Palestinian Return Centre
> Jeremy Corbyn MP
>
> For more information: PSC 0207 700 6192 //
> www.palestinecampaign.org
>
> *********************************
> 4) VIVA PALESTINA CONVOY ENTERS GAZA
>
> One month, thousands of miles, ten countries, one ship and a
> four flights later, the Viva Palestina convoy has begun to
> enter the besieged Gaza Strip.
>
> The Viva Palestina aid convoy, which planned to enter Gaza on
> 27 December but has been blocked by the Egyptian government
> and was viciously attacked by Egyptian riot police.
>
> For lots of video coverage and reports and how you can send
> messages of protest to the Egyptian embassy, go to:
> http://bit.ly/pPrky
>
> *********************************
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