STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER No. 1014
Monday 22 August 2007
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
T: 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) DEAR PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN
2) STOP THE WAR EXCLUSIVE: ILLEGAL ATTACKS
3) AFGHANISTAN: SLIDING INTO CHAOS
4) WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH: BLAME IRAN
5) CND CONFERENCE: TOWARDS A NEW COLD WAR?
6) A WORLD WITHOUT WAR
7) SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES: SAYING NO TO WAR

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1) DEAR PRIME MINISTER GORDON BROWN
Gordon Brown will make a statement on the war in Iraq when parliament returns
in October. Stop the War has begun organising a new mass campaign calling on
Brown to bring all the British troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan immediately
and to use his October statement to signal a break from George Bush's foreign
policy. An open letter to the Prime Minister is printed below and you can add
your name online now at: http://www.stopwar.org.uk. ;;;;

Between now and October, local Stop the War groups across the country will be
organising troops out activities to help build the pressure on Brown to change
policy, with Saturday 29 September designated as a day of action, to include
the lobbying of MPs in their constituencies. On Monday 8 October, Stop the War
is organising a national troops out protest at Parliament, at which MPs will
again be lobbied to reflect the opinion of the vast majority of people in
Britain.

The latest opinion polls show that two thirds of the British people want the
troops out of Iraq now and only six per cent think the war in Afghanistan is
being won. Leaders of the British military have made it clear that they think
the game is up in Iraq, or as Major General Richard Dannatt puts it, "We
should get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the
security problems".

There have been three hundred attacks in the last two months on Britain
troops, who are now being killed at a higher rate than at any time in the past
four
years. In the words of one soldier, they are on a nightly "suicide mission".
So
many soldiers have been voicing their opposition to the war that the
government
has now gagged anyone in the armed forces from making their views public.

Stop the War is urging all of its supporters to sign the Gordon Brown open
letter and to encourage as many of their friends, work and study colleagues,
relatives etc to add their names also. Over the next two months Stop the War
groups all over the country will be collecting signatures in their local
communities, workplaces, colleges, schools, churches, mosques, trade unions
etc. A petition to use with the open letter can be downloaded here:
http://tinyurl.com/2rqctm

If you would like to join us in helping to build the troops out now campaign,
contact the Stop the War national office and we will explain how you can get
involved: Telephone 020 7278 6694 or email office@stopwar.org.uk

OPEN LETTER TO GORDON BROWN:
Dear Prime Minister
We urge you to use your October statement to signal a break from George
Bush's foreign policy and to bring all the British troops out of Iraq
immediately, regardless of US plans.
It is clear the presence of British troops in Iraq is a pointless waste of
life. The majority of Iraqis want them to go. Most soldiers have been
withdrawn
to base outside Basra where they play no active role but are coming under fire
regularly and taking heavy casualties. It is time to go.
The occupation of Afghanistan is sliding in to chaos so familiar from Iraq
and the troops should be brought home. An attack on Iran would be a disaster
for the population and would increase instability in the region.
We need a change of course.

SIGN THE LETTER: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
JOIN THE CAMPAIGN: Tel 020 7278 6694, email office@stopwar.org.uk

SATURDAY 29 OCTOBER: LOCAL DAY OF ACTION
Lobby MPs in their constituencies

MONDAY 8 OCTOBER
National Troops Out Protest at Parliament
Lobby MPs to call for troops out now

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2) STOP THE WAR EXCLUSIVE: ILLEGAL ATTACKS
Ian Brown, ex-singer of the landmark British rock group Stone Roses and
Creator of four highly acclaimed solo albums, this week launched his latest
single
'Illegal Attacks' as a Stop the War exclusive. The video for the track
premiered on the Stop the War website and can be viewed here:
http://www.stopwar.org.uk. ;;;;

'Illegal Attacks', predicted to be a top ten hit, is a no punches pulled
anti-war song and Ian Brown is joined in a powerful duet by Sinead O'Connor.
Shot in London and directed by Colin O'Toole, the video tells the story of a
young British man who enlists in the army and is sent to war. On a night
operation a house is raided and a mother and father are taken hostage. The
video ends with a poignant and ironic twist.

Quote from the 'Illegal Attacks 'lyrics: "It's a commercial crusade, 'Cause
all the oil men get paid, And only so many soldiers come home, It's a
commando crusade, A military charade, And only so many soldiers come home,
Soldiers, soldiers come home, Soldiers come home".

The launching of this anti-war single with a Stop the War exclusive has
received widespread coverage in the mainstream media, eg:

THE GUARDIAN
http://tinyurl.com/3ym8lv

THE INDEPENDENT
http://tinyurl.com/3xrtvs

NEW MUSICAL EXPRESS
http://tinyurl.com/2n5v7z

ILLEGAL ATTACKS: ANTI-WAR SINGLE
BY IAN BROWN AND SINEAD O'CONNOR
VIEW AT: http://www.stopwar.org.uk

IAN BROWN'S WEBSITE:
http://www.ianbrown.co.uk/ ;;;;

CHECK THE STOP THE WAR WEBSITE FOR ANTI-WAR CONCERTS AND OTHER CULTURAL EVENTS
TAKING PLACE DURING THE COMING MONTHS.

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3) AFGHANISTAN: SLIDING INTO CHAOS
Stop the War's Day School on Afghanistan on Saturday 15 September couldn't be
more timely. In the words of the Independent, "Afghanistan is sliding into
chaos and is fast becoming one of the gravest crises facing the new Prime
Minister, Gordon Brown." (SEE http://tinyurl.com/2w4v6b). According to The
Times, British soldiers have a one in 36 chance of dying on the Afghan
battlefield. "Battalions are now taking very serious casualties. This is an
experience that the Army as a whole hasn't had since World War Two." (SEE
http://tinyurl.com/ywf8qk)

STOP THE WAR DAY SCHOOL
AFGHANISTAN: BRITAIN'S OTHER WAR
SATURDAY 15 SEPTEMBER
UNIVERSITY OF LONDON UNION
SPEAKERS INCLUDE Craig Murray, Dr. Elaheh Povey and Lynda Holmes from Military
Families Against the War
TICKETS £6/£4 CONCESSIONS
BOOK YOUR PLACE OR ORDER BOOKING FORMS IN BULK:
PHONE 020 7278 6694
Download flyer here: http://tinyurl.com/29ytfu

SIMON JENKINS WRITES: Afghanistan was always the "good" war and Iraq the "bad"
one.
It is permitted for ministers to assert that they were "privately opposed" to
Iraq so long as
Afghanistan is seen as a worthy cause…Iraq is post-imperialism for fast
learners, Afghanistan
for slow ones. READ MORE HERE:
http://tinyurl.com/2xywe5 ;;;;

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4) WHEN THE GOING GETS TOUGH: BLAME IRAN
British Defence Minister Des Browne told the Guardian that he had 'no doubt'
that the Taliban was getting weapons from Iran. George Bush is poised to
announce that the US is to treat Iran's Revolutionary Guard as a 'global
terrorist' organisation. Deaths in Iraq are now routinely blamed on Iranian
weapons, expertise and general interference in the region…This looks like a
war which will get worse before it gets better. It has all the makings of a
long, colonial war with increasing casualties, loss of support from the local
population and a growing sense domestically that it is unwinnable.
QUOTE FROM LATEST BLOG BY LINDSEY GERMAN, STOP THE
WAR NATIONAL CONVENOR. READ MORE: http://tinyurl.com/ysrxka ;;;;

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5) CND CONFERENCE: TOWARDS A NEW COLD WAR?
Not content with pursuing pre-emptive war in the Middle East, the US
administration is developing a provocative new weapons system - National
Missile Defence (NMD) - often known as 'Star Wars', leading to a new nuclear
arms race. While the US portrays this as a defensive system, in reality it
will allow the US to launch attacks on other countries without fear of
retaliation.
Britain already hosts NMD bases at Fylingdales and Menwith Hill in Yorkshire,
without any public or parliamentary consultation. Now, the US wants to put
bases in Poland and the Czech Republic.

CND is organising a conference on Saturday 1 September to help build the
European-wide campaign to stop US National Missile Defence. Come along, find
out more and get involved. Speakers include: Kate Hudson, CND, Andrew Murray,
Stop the War Coalition, Jon Trickett MP, Caroline Lucas MEP, Bruce Gagnon,
USA, Ivona Novomestská, Czech Republic, Alex Sólyom, Hungary, Polish speaker,
Professor Dave Webb, Yorkshire CND, Ian Davies, BASIC, Dr Elaheh Rostami
Povey, SOAS, Helen John, Menwith Hill Women's Peace Camp, Gemma Tumelty,
NUS President.

CND CONFERENCE: TOWARDS A NEW COLD WAR?
SATURDAY, 1ST SEPTEMBER, 10AM - 5PM
SCHOOL OF ORIENTAL AND AFRICAN STUDIES (SOAS)
THORNHAUGH STREET, BLOOMSBURY, LONDON, WC1

For more information: call 0207 700 2393,
e-mail campaigns@cnduk.org
or visit CND's website at www.cnduk.org

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6) THE WORLD AGAINST WAR
The Stop the War Coalition will be holding an international peace conference
in London on 1st December. The World Against War conference is a follow up
to the successful international conference we hosted in 2005. It will discuss
the
occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan and opposition to any attack on Iran. It
will also look at the broader struggle against war and for independence
against all the threats of the US administration.

Among the keynote speakers will be Dennis Halliday and Hans Von Sponeck, who
were United Nations Humanitarian Coordinators in Iraq. Peace and anti war
groups across the world be represented, including from South America, the
Middle East, USA, South Asia, Canada and Europe. Representatives have been
invited from Iraq, Palestine, Venezuela and Pakistan amongst others. We have
also invited Polish and Czech organisations who are opposing the Bush 'Missile
Defence' plan.

WORLD AGAINST WAR CONFERENCE
WESTMINSTER CENTRAL HALL, LONDON
SATURDAY 1 DECEMBER 2007
BOOKING FORMS AVAILABLE SOON
TO RESERVE YOUR PLACE CALL STOP THE WAR
Tel 020 7278 6694

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7) SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES: SAYING NO TO WAR
The National Union Teachers (NUT) and National Union of Students (NUS) have
voted in the last few months to affiliate to Stop the War Coalition, joining
long time affiliates, the college lecturers unions NATFHE and AUT, now merged
as UCU. This reflects the growth of the anti-war movement in colleges across
the country over the past year, with new Stop the War groups being formed in
universities and colleges.

All the signs are that when students return after the Summer break in
September, the anti-war feeling will continue to grow and plans are already in
place to campaign across all colleges to build support for the Gordon Brown
open letter campaign (see above). If you would like to get involved in Stop
the War's college activities, contact Stewart at the National StWC office: Tel
020
7278 6694 or email stewart@stopwar.org.uk

Not to be left out of these very encouraging developments, School Students
Against the War (SSAW) have been active during the Summer, getting national
coverage for their campaign to keep the British military out of schools,
following the army's intensified recruitment efforts aimed at school students
(See report here http://tinyurl.com/2gosam). For details of SSAW activities
and how to get involved, go to: http://www.ssaw.co.uk/
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