News & Analysis

Media Releases

2005

2004

Background Articles

Sami Ramadani

July 2005

Published in The Guardian

Roy Greenslade salutes Dilip Hiro's Secrets and Lies, a depressing but magisterial assessment of the reasoning that led to the invasion of Iraq. More...

Jonathon Freedland

June 2005

Published in The Guardian

Scott Ritter

May 2005

Published in The Guardian

Richard Norton-Taylor

May 2005

Published in The Guardian

Navy Judge Finds War Protest Reasonable

May 2005

Marjorie Cohn -  t r u t h o u t | Report

AWOL - US Army Crisis

May 2005

Published in Independent

Election 2005 - Rosa Prince

May 2005

Published in The Mirror

Election 2005 - Jonathon Steele

May 2005

Published in The Guardian

Andrew Newman - Report from Brize Norton Peace Camp

Election 2005 - Terry Kirby

May 2005

Published in Independent

Election 2005 - Raymond Whittaker

May 2005

Published in Independent

Falluja - Our Guernica by Jonathon Steele and Dahr Jamail

April 2005

Published in The Guardian

Patrick Cockburn - Terrified US Soldiers killing civilians

April 2005

Published in Independent

US secret death tally

April 2005

Published in Independent

Jonathon Steele - Marla Ruzika

April 2005
Published in The Guardian

Patrick Cockburn - Marla Ruzika

April 2005

Published in Independent

Don't be fooled by the spin on Iraq
Jonathan Steele

April 2005
Published in The Guardian

2nd Anniversary of Fall of Saddam
www.iol.co.za

April 2005

We got it wrong on Iraq WMD, intelligence chiefs finally admit
Richard Norton -Taylor

April 2005

Rory Carroll - Malnutrition in Iraq

March 2005

Published in The Guardian

Andrew Murray - No Escape from the War

March 2005

Published in The Guardian

Marie Woolf on Attorney General's Advice

March 2005

Published in Independent

Gareth Peirce - Control Orders

March 2005

Published in The Guardian

Richard Norton-Taylor and Michael White

February 2005

Published in The Guardian

Richard Norton-Taylor

February 2005

Published in The Guardian

Mark Jensen

February 2005

Circulated by Information Clearing House

Dr Salam Ismael

February 2005

Circulated by Information Clearing House

Richard Norton-Taylor

February 2005

Published in The Guardian

George Solomou - Why I won't go to Iraq

 February 2005

Published in The Guardian

Naomi Klein

February 2005

Published in The Guardian

Open letter to Harry Barnes

January 2005

From Nick Howard

International Red Cross Report on Coalition Treatment of Iraqi Prisoners
February 2004
Includes treatment of prisoners at Abu Ghraib

Letter from Michael Berg
May 2004
Michael Berg's son Nicholas was kidnapped and beheaded in Iraq. Michael calls for peace now.

Please Note

We're still transferring press releases for 2003 and 2002, and most of the background articles, from our old site. We'll make them available as soon as we can.

If you can't find something you need, contact the office.

Defend Civil Liberties, Defend the Muslim Community

Public Rally at Friends Meeting House on Thursday 4th August was very well attended, especially considering that we're in the middle of summer holidays. Speakers spoke inspirationally reflecting the mood of the audience- that to stop the attacks and to protect our civil liberties, we must put an end to this War on Terror which kills thousands, and remain in solidarity with the Muslim community who are now being scapegoated. Over £1000 was collected in donations for the demonstration planed for the 24th September.

Parliament Square - Fighting the Ban

On August 1st the government brought in severe restrictions on the right to demonstrate in and around Parliament Square. In 2 major protests following the ban - on Monday 1st August and Sunday 7th - 10 people were arrested. They will be appearing at Bow Street Magistrates Court At 10am on Tuesday 16th August. Come and show your support! continuing.

Tragic Mistake

On Friday Jean Charles de Menezes was walking from his home to Stockwell tube. Police in plain clothes followed him and just before he entered the underground station they shouted at him. Scared, he ran into the station with the police following him. They caught him, held him down and shot him in the
head five times. He had nothing to do with the London bombing campaign. He was unlucky enough to be wearing the wrong clothes and his skin was the wrong colour. Subsequently it has been revealed that the police have been operating a secret shoot-to-kill policy. Armed officers have been undergoing training with the Israeli defence forces. This is the result.
Police now regret this 'tragic mistake'. The real tragic mistake has been the illegal, immoral and barbaric invasion of Iraq. The killing of tens of thousands of Iraqi civilians. Londoners are now really paying the price of this war, both in the suicide bombings and in this public killing. We send our heartfelt condolences to this man's family.

Victims of London and Iraq remembered at London Solidarity Gathering

The StWC and MAB gathering in Russell Square remembered the dead from the terrible outrages on July 7 only yards away. Speakers including Andrew Murray (StWC Chair), Dr. Dr Assam Tamimi (MAB) and George Galloway (Respect MP) highlighted how the war on terror had not made Britain safer, and vowed to continue the campaign against the war on terror. Wasar Altikriti from the Muslim Youth Group in Leeds expressed the outrage at the attacks on the Muslim community and called for all Britons to stand in solidarity.

Peace Vigil brings Londoners together in Unity and Solidarity

Peace Garden in Euston, London, filled with Londoners paying respect to the victims of the terrorist attacks on Saturday 9th July. A two minute silence was held in respect for those who had lost their lives. Speakers included Lindsey German, Convener of Stop The War Coalition, Dr Azzam Tamimi from the Muslim Association of Britain, Jeremy Corbyn MP, George Galloway MP, Paul Mackney from the NATFHE and the father of one of the British soldiers killed in Iraq. The overwhelming message was one of solidarity and sympathy with families who had lost loved ones in Iraq and Afghanistan and the London terrorist attack, of standing shoulder to shoulder with the muslim community and of calling for an end to the war of terror and a committment to peace.

  StWC Statement on the London Terrorist Attacks

Stop the War Coalition unequivocally condemns Thursday's terrorist attacks on the people of London.  Our thoughts are with the victims and their families.  There can be no justification for such attacks.   We urge everyone to resist any attempts which may be made to use these crimes to stir up anti-Muslim hysteria or attack the Muslim population of this country.  We emphasise the importance of solidarity, peace and justice as our guiding principles in addressing the crisis scarring the world today, of which the bombings are a dreadful manifestation. It is clearer than ever that the "war on terror" in which Britain has been so heavily involved has not, in fact, made the world safer from terrorism.  Britain's security services warned Tony Blair two years ago that a war on Iraq would make such attacks more likely. That warning has now been tragically borne out in London.

Election 2005 - Iraq is the main issueThe War Cost 1 Million Votes

Raymond Whittaker    Terry Kirby     Jonathan Steele

StWC press release     Rosa Prince(Mirror)

New - Stop the War Book

For details and how to buy your copy

Book Launches  Bookmarks Housmans

National Demo 19.3 Photographs

Some messages of support                     More pictures

No More Bush Wars

                       Badge                      

New campaign materials available from office

Stop the War Conference 2005

Resolutions and new Steering Committee

Military Families Against the War

MFAW members are relatives and loved ones of British armed forces - like Rose Gentle, whose son Gordon was killed in Iraq last June. MFAW calls on Tony Blair to bring the troops home now.

Order the leaflet from the office

If you have a family member who is in the military and you are opposed to this war, please join MFAW now. For more info see the MFAW website.

Our New Website

We've relaunched our website in the run-up to the 19 March national demo. We're adding all the content from the old site as quickly as we can - if you can't find something you need, contact the office.

Trade Union Statement

On behalf of our unions, we send greetings to the demonstration today, in particular the thousands of members of the trade union movement on the march. We pledge our full support to the campaign to end the disastrous occupation of Iraq, to bring the troops home and to defend British Muslims
and our civil liberties against any backlash from the criminal bombings of July 7.

Signed
General secretaries:

Tony Woodley, TGWU
Bob Crow, RMT
Paul Mackney, NATFHE
Mark Serwotka, PCS
Matt Wrack, FBU
Keith Sonnet, deputy general secretary, Unison                    

Billy Hayes, general secretary of CWU, spoke on the demonstration

Friends of Al-Aqsa Statement

The March for Peace and Liberty in the streets of London today
(Saturday 24th September 2005) united 100,000 people in an out right rejection of the position taken by the government in maintaining the presence of British troops in Iraq and in defence of the Muslim community in Britain post 7/7.

In a speech by Ismail Adam Patel, Chair of the Friends of Al-Aqsa organisation, he stated: “British Muslims are not scared of the British public and have no problems with the society at large, but they are scared of the British Government and Mr Blair in particular”.

In gratitude to the Stop the War movement, Ismail Patel stated: “Despite the attempts of some to castigate Muslim as ‘sympathisers of bombers’ the anti-war movement rose to the occasion and provided us with not only a platform but an avenue through which we can challenge bigoted views.”

He further states: “We in Britain, where once we celebrated  diversity, Mr Blair’s actions have tried to created fractures and segregated the society into clusters of defensive groups, each suspicious of the other. Mr Blair perpetuates this with every new speech, every new proposal and every new piece of legislation.”

The gathering in Hyde park was a sea of faces reflecting every culture and religion in Britain’s vibrant multi-faceted community. A clear sign to Mr Blair that his policies are rejected by the vast majority of British people.

ARE BRITISH TROOPS AT BREAKING POINT ?

Army sources are warning that the mood among soldiers of all ranks is at its gloomiest since the invasion in March 2003. The outlook has become darker as the war proves increasingly intractable and much more dangerous than troops had expected. More...

A Great Day

Up to 100,000 people marched on Saturday 24 September in London for peace and liberty. The march took 2 hours to move into Hyde Park, transport came from everywhere from Aberdeen to Cornwall. There was a wonderful mix of people on
the march: trade unionists, large numbers of Muslims, a lot of young people, pensioners, Woodcraft Folk, campaigners against climate change, for civil liberties - united in their demands above all for troops out of Iraq.

www.jamiebaileyphotography.com

The march was led by Military Families against the War, including Sue Smith whose son died in July and who delivered a letter and petition to Downing St.

Speakers at the rally included John Pilger, Tom Hayden from the US, Tariq Ali, Brian Eno and Bianca Jagger. The band Belle and Sebastian ended the afternoon to great acclaim.

Now we are launching the Peace and Liberty Campaign. Over the next weeks we are asking all groups and supporters to

• build for the peace conference to be held on 10 December
• lobby MPs to pull the troops out
• oppose the new attacks on our civil liberties
• campaign against attacks on Muslims

The demonstration is only the beginning. If you would like materials, speakers, information or any other help locally please contact us at 020 7278 6694 or email office@stopwar.org.uk