IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) DEMONSTRATE AT THE LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE
2) HELP FUND THE OPPOSITION
3) OIL AND THE WAR
4) A DOG'S LIFE
5) UNDER SIEGE - CIVIL LIBERTIES, WAR AND THE MEDIA

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1) DEMONSTRATE AT THE LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE
TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ AND AFGHANISTAN
SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER ASSEMBLE 12.30PM
ALL SAINTS, CAVENDISH STREET, MANCHESTER M15

The Stop the War Coalition is calling on all its members and supporters to turn
the Manchester Troops Out demonstration on Saturday 20 September, (the eve of
the Labour Party annual national conference), into the biggest possible protest
against this government's continuing participation in the wars in Iraq and
Afghanistan.

The Iraq war remains a disaster. Politicians and generals talk up the success
of the 'surge', but Iraqis are still dying in large numbers every week. People
lack clean water, electricity, and a working health system because the country
has been wrecked by occupation. The majority of Iraqis want foreign troops to
go, but the US and its allies are insisting on permanent military bases and the
US control of Iraqi oil.

Meanwhile we are told Afghanistan is 'the good war'. The facts tell a
different story. Aid agencies announced last week that violence in Afghanistan
has reached its worst level since 2001. This is reflected in the rising death
toll of British troops, now averaging two per week.

The media hardly mention the number of Afghan dead, but it is rising fast
partly because bombing raids have been stepped up. As the joint NGO statement
from ACBAR, released last week, says: NATO air strikes are up 40 per cent on
last year and "searches conducted by Afghan and international forces have on
some occasions involved excessive use of force, extra judicial killings,
destruction of property and/or mistreatment of suspects". SEE
http://www.acbar.org/

The UN also reports that the violence is making aid efforts almost impossible
at a time when drought and high food prices are forcing thousands into
life-threatening poverty. While supporters of the war in the west talk of
reconstruction, on the ground the few schools and clinics that have been
functioning are being threatened with closure by the violence caused by
occupation.

It is a disgrace that New Labour is still supporting these wars. Gordon Brown
has promised to schedule getting the troops out of Iraq, but there are still
thousands there and the government has increased its war budget this year. The
billions being spent on war could be used to invest in housing, pensions and
services.

For all these reasons Stop the War is calling for the widest possible support
for the demonstration at Labour's conference on 20 September. Please tell your
friends and workmates about it. Transport details and a leaflet publicising the
demonstration are available on the website, SEE http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

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2) HELP FUND THE OPPOSITION

In order to finance the mobilisation for the Manchester demonstration, and to
reorganise our databases, Stop the War has launched an appeal for money. Last
week we raised over £3,000 pounds but we urgently need more. Please give
generously by phone, letter or on the website. For details, SEE
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/

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3) OIL AND THE WAR

There is ever increasing evidence that oil was and is at the heart of the so
called War on Terror. Barely reported in the press, the Iraqi government has
announced a plan for foreign oil companies to invest in large chunks of the
Iraqi oil industry. If sealed, the offer would lead to foreign companies
getting a huge and guaranteed return on their investment. The plan covers the
six main oilfields in Iraq which produce up to 80% of the country's oil. The
scandal is that there is no technical or economic reason why the Iraqi Oil
Ministry needs this foreign help. The Ministry has an accumulation of funds and
the oil fields are already relatively well resourced.

A clue as to why the Iraqi government is colluding in this plan was given in
the New York Times two weeks ago, which revealed that US advisors had helped
'shape' the new contracts. The truth is the Iraqi government is at the mercy of
the US occupation and this oil deal is being driven by the US's agenda not by
the needs of the Iraqis themselves. For more go to
http://tinyurl.com/6zqpzt

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4) A DOG'S LIFE
It tells us all we need to know about the mainstream media's priorities in
reporting the war in Afghanistan that we learnt almost instantly the name of
the army sniffer dog killed with his handler last month -- it was Sasha, if you
didn't see the reports – but no newspaper or television news programme gave
the names of the four Afghan civilians killed a few days later when the British
army fired on their car. An excellent Media Lens article titled "Some matter
more -- when 47 victims are worth 43 words" shows how systemic such reporting
is in the mainstream media. SEE http://tinyurl.com/65jcuz

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5) UNDER SIEGE - CIVIL LIBERTIES, WAR AND THE MEDIA
Continuing its impressive series of conferences and meetings examining the role
of the media in the "war on terror", Media Workers Against the War have
announced a conference in the Autumn with such a strong line-up of speakers
that it is already taking advance booking for tickets. Early booking is highly
advisable.

UNDER SIEGE - CIVIL LIBERTIES, WAR AND THE MEDIA
SATURDAY 15 NOVEMBER
LONDON SCHOOL OF ECONOMICS
Speakers agreed so far:
MOAZZAM BEGG, writer and former Guantanamo inmate
INAYAT BUNGLAWALA, Muslim Council of Britain
NICK DAVIES, author, Flat Earth News
JEREMY DEAR, general secretary, NUJ
EAMONN MCCANN, Irish journalist and writer
EXPLO NANI-KOFI, editor of the Kilombo, a Pan-African Journal
PETER OBORNE, Daily Mail columnist, former editor of the Spectator

For more details and updates see:
MEDIA WORKERS AGAINST THE WAR
http://www.mwaw.net

TO PRE-BOOK A TICKET: Send an email to mediawar@riseup.net.

If you would like to be involved in helping organise this event, reply to this
email
Send an email to mediawar@riseup.net

6) RIDING ON FIRE: IRAQI ART UNDER OCCUPATION
Artiquea Gallery: 'Riding on Fire: Iraqi Art Under Occupation', from
September 19 –31 October, 2008. Curated by the Iraqi sculptors Najim Alqaysi
and Redha Farhan. This is the first exhibition to focus exclusively on Iraqi
art after occupation. It will introduce artworks that have never been seen in
London - oil paintings and bronze statues by 21 well known artists who live and
work in Iraq and the exhibition will represent contemporary Iraqi art as it is
today.
'Riding on Fire' addresses the heroic efforts made by Iraqi artists to keep
art alive while everything is falling apart. It is a matter of life and death
in the real meaning of these words for, regardless of hurdles and hazards,
these artists have managed to remain creatively active and produce stunning
works of art in a hostile environment. The 42 works range in scale from the
bronze statues made by well known artists like Najim Alqaysi, Ali Rassan and
Ridha Farhan, Mondher Ali and Abdulkareem Khaleel, to the amazing paintings of
Fakher Mohammad, Sattar Darwish, Dhia Alkhozai and Wisam Zakko.
The exhibition is part of Artiquea Gallery's goal to uncover the huge talents
among Arab artists and is being supported by the Stop the War Coalition. Check
out more info at: http://tinyurl.com/6nyoco

Artiquea Gallery
82 Wandsworth Bridge Road
London SW6 2TF
Tel: 02077312090
info@artiquea.co.uk
http://www.artiquea.co.uk/
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