Hull Stop the War Coalition

July 2010

2010-07-12T09:15:00.000-07:00

Saving Face in Unwinnable War

Sinking in debt and no closer to victory, heads may roll as the U.S. and NATO wrap up their pointless Afghan adventure

'It's Fun to Shoot Some People'

By Ed O'Keefe & Al Jazeera

James Mattis, a lieutenant general, told a crowd in San Diego that it was "fun to shoot some people" and said that some Afghans deserved to die.

If we want PEACE, we have to work for it

2010-01-01T05:50:00.000-08:00

Afghanistan and the meanings of peace

If we want PEACE, we have to work for it. Wherever – in Hull – in Holderness – in the East Riding. Otherwise we clearly don’t value it!

However, if we judge the war in Afghanistan just by what’s on most UK media, we will get a warped view. Only occasionally, over the past 8 years (although more often recently), have these themes come out:

· We shouldn’t be there in the first place

· We are not going to win

· The position of women is worse now

· It’s an American war – planned in advance – and it’s about oil and domination.

The Afghan government is corrupt. This is not an accident. These are the people ‘we can do business with’. These are the warlords which ‘we’ co-opted to beat the Taliban. The current Afghan production of nearly all the world’s heroin goes right to the top of government. The Taliban have the moral advantage – they believe in their version of Islam – yes, it’s a harsh version, but Afghanistan’s biggest dose of peace – in recent memory - was actually under Taliban rule from 1997 to 2001.

Fighting there since 1979, the Russians could not win in Afghanistan even with 300,000 troops.

British soldiers in Afghanistan are not working for ‘peace’ even though they may honestly believe that and even when we are constantly told that they are. We cannot fight and die to defend a corrupt government, let alone one that we brought to power! Nor are we to fight and die to defend the world’s greatest ever producer of heroin – while we have watched.

The single most important single fact about Afghanistan is that America had already planned to attack it before 9/11 even happened.

Many people still think we are fighting Al Qa’ida and hunting Osama bin Laden. Well America said years ago that it no longer wanted bin Laden for 9/11. This ought to have been major news everywhere – because that’s still officially why this war started. Until the story changes into one of, say, making Afghanistan ‘a civilized country’ – as if we could.

We in Britain, at least for the minority who still support this war, like to think we have a pragmatic view: Oh well, we’re there now, we’ve got to do our best. But making war isn’t like doing one’s garden! The single greatest reason why we have international law is to prevent wars.

Another state can’t just attack a country – like Afghanistan – blaming the state itself for 9/11 – and then producing no evidence. Ignoring that same state on multiple occasions when it makes an offer to hand over the alleged culprit.

The war wasn’t caused by 9/11 or by bin Laden. It was caused by pre-existing American policy, under Bush, to find further ways to dominate the Middle East.

Martin Deane

Hull Stop the War
Hull and East Riding Green Party

.

Please could the good Christians help save us from the mad Christians?

2009-12-24T05:00:00.001-08:00

Christians Leaders United for War: "The tyrannical Iranian regime shall never threaten the world with nuclear weapons" (original.antiwar.com)

Unlearned lessons of the Soviet invasion - The U.S., like the Soviet Union, is learning the hard way on Afghanistan. (globalpost.com)

US Defense Secretary proposes $2 billion in funds to aid unstable countries... get more unstable (washingtonpost.com)

US home foreclosures top one million mark

2009-12-23T11:24:00.001-08:00

US home foreclosures top one million mark. While millions are facing the loss of their jobs and their homes, corporate profits have reached their highest levels in five years. (wsws.org)

Ron Paul, the attitudes to Iran...

2009-12-23T07:00:00.000-08:00

Ron Paul: The war propagandists are hoping for an "incident" that would justify attack on Iran (ronpaul.com)

Pakistani Taliban commander has said he has sent thousands of fighters into neighbouring Afghanistan to counter the rising level of US troops (english.aljazeera.net)

Obama came out today and said "I never campaigned on a public option!" Obama during the campaign in 2008: “My plan builds on and improves our current insurance system, which most Americans continue to rely upon, and creates a new public health plan for those currently without coverage.” (thinkprogress.org)

Danny Glover: I See No Difference Between Bush And Obama Policies : “He may be just a different face, and that face may happen to be black—and if it were Hillary Clinton, it would happen to be a woman,” says Danny Glover. “But what choices do they have within the structure?” (newsone.com)

Woman awarded $3 million to settle Iraq KBR rape case

2009-11-20T00:17:00.000-08:00

Woman awarded $3 million to settle claim she was raped while working for KBR in Iraq (talkingpointsmemo.com)

Blackwater AKA Xe facing millions in fines for weapons smuggling, money laundering and tax evasion (heraldtribune.com)

US is basically funding the very people they're fighting!

2009-11-13T00:42:00.000-08:00

Afghanistan is so rife with corruption that the US is basically funding the very people they're fighting! These are obscene amounts of money! (democracynow.org)

UK and USA sent prisoners to Uzbek to be tortured, brutally

2009-11-07T02:27:00.000-08:00

Former British Ambassador Craig Murray says UK and USA sent prisoners to Uzbek to be tortured, brutally - (Video) (therealnews.com)

US foreign policy is straight out of the mafia

2009-11-07T01:25:00.000-08:00

Noam Chomsky: 'US foreign policy is straight out of the mafia' (guardian.co.uk)

We broke the law, admits CIA agent convicted of rendition (independent.co.uk)

Paul Craig Roberts: The Evil Empire. "The US gov't is now so totally under the thumbs of organized interest groups that “our” government can no longer respond to the concerns of the American people who elect the president and the members of the House and Senate." (counterpunch.org)

All over Latin America, a political awakening

2009-11-06T12:15:00.001-08:00

All over Latin America, and especially in the Andes, a political awakening is emboldening Indians who have lived mostly as second-class citizens since the Spanish conquest. (google.com)

The United Nations' shameful complicity

2009-11-02T13:26:00.000-08:00

The United Nations' shameful complicity in this year's corrupt Afghan elections. - By Christopher Hitchens (slate.com)

Obama Resuming Bush's "Extraordinary Renditions" (countercurrents.org)

We are in involved in an ideological struggle with people who murder the innocent

2009-10-31T12:14:00.001-07:00

George Bush: I believe we are in involved in an ideological struggle with people who murder the innocent to advance a point of view. (hindustantimes.com) - Yes - George and Tony - many of us are...

Hey America! - "The disparity between why are you willing to fund endless wars to destroy other countries and invade other countries, but not provide healthcare to your own citizens, is a very glaring one." (democracynow.org)

US forces expect insurgents to plan more massive attacks like major bombings in Baghdad last week ahead of January polls, said Major General John D. Johnson. (alsumaria.tv)

1,000 U.S. troops wounded in Afghanistan in past 3 months (washingtonpost.com)

Federal Reserve Policy Audit Legislation ‘Gutted,’ US Ron Paul Says (bloomberg.com)

What the Russian soldiers thought about Afghanistan

2009-10-30T04:42:00.000-07:00

The universality of war propaganda: A soldier with the Russian army in Afghanistan recounts what they believed about their mission (salon.com)

unite against fascism bulletin

2009-10-29T11:01:00.001-07:00

unite against fascism
email bulletin, 26 October 2009 – www.uaf.org.uk – unite@ucu.org.uk

In this issue

– Stop the racist English Defence League in Leeds
– Anti-fascists turn out to oppose Griffin on Question Time
– Reactions in the media to Griffin's Question Time appearance
– Order your Leon Kuhn postcards today
– Join UAF and help build the anti-Nazi movement

DATE FOR YOUR DIARY: UAF national conference, central London, 13 February 2010

Stop the racist English Defence League in Leeds

The racist English Defence League is planning to descend on Leeds this Saturday 31 October. Initial reports suggest that they are building heavily for this event to make-up for a poor showing in Swansea earlier this month and a complete no-show in Newport last weekend. On both occasions Unite Against Fascism organised successful counter demonstrations to show that the EDL and their affiliates are not wanted in Wales.

We need to get as many people as possible to Leeds on Saturday to send a clear message to the EDL that their brand of noxious racism has no place in Yorkshire either. Every UAF supporter in the North of England should try to get to Leeds with their friends, family and workmates. On every previous occasion where the EDL has tried to march it has been blocked by a much larger contigent of anti-racists. The presence of a multi-racial crowd standing in solidarity with Muslims against the EDL is the most powerful force stopping them from growing further.

UAF protest against the racist EDL
assemble 12 noon, Saturday 31 October
Leeds Art Gallery, The Headrow, Leeds LS1 3AA

Anti-fascists turn out to oppose Griffin on Question Time

Up to 2,000 anti-fascist demonstrators turned out on the streets of west London last Thursday to protest outside the BBC Centre against BNP leader Nick Griffin being invited on to the BBC's flagship Question Time programme. The crowd was young, lively and multi-racial – a manifestation of the society that Griffin and his gang of Nazi thugs would like to see crushed.

The Unite Against Fascism demonstration spilled out into the road, bringing traffic to a standstill and delaying the start of the filming of Question Time. The size of protest led Griffin to refuse to use the main gate to the BBC. He was smuggled in through a back entrance instead. Across the country protesters held local anti-fascist pickets outside their BBC offices that evening.

A rally in the streets at the London demo heard from speakers including Andy Slaughter MP, Jeremy Corbyn MP and Jerry Dammers, founder of The Specials. Trade union leaders also backed the protest and spoke at the rally, including Jeremy Dear of the NUJ, Gerry Morrissey of Bectu, Christine Blower from the NUT, Steve Hart from Unite and Tony Kearns of the CWU – representing postal workers who started their strike that day.

Weyman Bennett, joint secretary of UAF, said: "Today's demonstration was a brilliant example of a fine tradition of mass mobilisation against the Nazis. This is the tradition that has defeated fascism in the past – the Blackshirts in the 1930s and the National Front in the 1970s. In contrast, giving platforms to the fascists simply boosts their profile, as happened to Jean-Marie Le Pen in France in the 1980s.

"We should remember that friends of David Copeland, the London nailbomber, said he was a normal person before he joined the BNP. How many more David Copelands have joined the BNP tonight as a result of the prestigious platform the BBC has granted to Griffin? Griffin's supporters will draw strength from his appearance, and they will use this confidence to get on to the streets and attack ethnic minorities."

LINKS
UAF briefing on Nick Griffin (PDF)
Jim Wolfreys: How Griffin follows Le Pen's lead

Reactions in the media to Griffin's Question Time appearance

Several politicians have spoken out in the wake of Nick Griffin's Question Time appearance to criticise the BBC's to host him and warn of the consequences in terms of boosting the BNP and poisoning mainstream political debate.

Ken Livingstone, former London mayor and chair of Unite Against Fascism, wrote in the Guardian: "Nick Griffin's performance on Question Time was appallingly bad, but that is beside the point. The BBC has been shamed by this circus. Worse, the corporation has now established the principle that Griffin and his party are legitimate participants in the corporation's flagship political debate programme and in politics.

"They have given him a mainstream platform to promote his openly Islamophobic views that will encourage racism towards British Muslim Asians and give succour to violent thugs. It is a further opening of the door to the legitimisation of the BNP."

Writing in the Western Mail, Peter Hain MP said: "The unprecedented profile handed to the BNP by the BBC has seen its membership jump and its followers are ecstatic... The mainstream majority may have seen Griffin successfully exposed for what he always has been on Thursday night. But the party’s constituency would have seen yet another attempt by the establishment to gang up on their leader."

Diane Abbott MP wrote in the Independent contrasting Griffin's appearance with the first time she appeared on the show: "More than 22 years ago, I appeared on Question Time as a young parliamentary candidate. For days afterwards people, black and white, came up and congratulated me. It did not matter what I said. My very appearance on the programme signalled acceptance by the political mainstream in a way that appearing on no other political programme could have achieved. That was why it was wrong to have Nick Griffin on the show."

She added: "It is noticeable that at least half the show was taken up with discussing immigration. And even though the other politicians were aggressive about denouncing Nick Griffin, they were equally aggressive in declaring that there was indeed an immigration 'problem' that only they knew how to solve... So although they were denouncing the man, the debate stayed firmly on territory delineated by the BNP."

Andy Slaughter MP, whose west London seat includes the BBC Centre on Wood Lane, spent most of last Thursday at the protests outside the BNP. He wrote in Fulham Chronicle: "I was not surprised to be asked whether, having seen his [Griffin's] cringing and inarticulate performance, I had changed my mind. I wish I could say yes. But I am afraid that whatever happened the event was always going to be a boost for the BNP... Certainly the experience has emboldened him – the next day he was sneering at London as a non-British city and calling the audience a lynch mob."

LINKS
Ken Livingstone: The BBC's gift to the BNP
Peter Hain: Griffin’s BBC appearance was an awful mistake
Diane Abbott: Dark times for the debate on immigration
Andy Slaughter: Britain’s leading neo-Nazi is now a household name

Order your Leon Kuhn postcards today

One of the abiding images from the protests against Griffin has been cartoonist Leon Kuhn's brilliant caricature of Nick Griffin as Hitler. Leon has teamed up with UAF to produce postcards with this image on them. You can order them in bulk to sell on stalls to raise money for your local UAF group, or to use as general anti-BNP propaganda. Email your orders to unite@ucu.org.uk. Postcards cost £10 for a packet of 50 - use our Nochex secure payments facility to make your payment.

Join UAF and help build the anti-Nazi movement

It is vital that the anti-fascist movement steps up in response to meet the challenges of the Nazi BNP and its racist fellow travellers in the English Defence League. Unite Against Fascism has shown that we can be a rallying point for anyone who wants to take a stand against the Nazis and racists. That's why we're appealing for people to do two things:

– Join UAF today for £10 and help build the resistance needed to stop the BNP and EDL in their tracks.
– Forward this email and help recruit 5 others to join UAF too.

To join UAF today, or to make a one-off donation, use our Nochex secure online payment facility below. Put "membership" or "donation" in the message box as appropriate.
Please download copies of our appeal document and distribute them to your friends, family and workmates. If you are in a trade union, please contact the UAF office for details on how to affiliate your branch to UAF.

LINKS
UAF emergency financial appeal (PDF)
Nochex secure payment facility: http://www.tinyurl.com/uafdonate

Please distribute this email bulletin as widely as possible, especially in workplaces and trade union networks. Apologies in advance for any cross posting. If you have any comments or suggestions, email them to unite@ucu.org.uk or call the UAF office on 020 7801 2782

Hulll Vigil for Iraq: 100th soldier dead (Feb 2006)

2009-10-28T07:58:00.000-07:00

Shortly after 9/11, Bush secretly signed two executive orders. Both violated basic constitutional protections as well as U.S. obligations under international treaties, yet both carried the force of law...and they sill do! (smirkingchimp.com)

Canadian police agents provocateurs

2009-10-27T14:10:00.000-07:00

Three undercover officers accused of inciting protesters to attack riot police at the 2007 North American leaders summit in Montebello are being summoned to testify before Quebec's independent police ethics committee. (globeandmail.com)

This could be helpful - Obama's foreign policy report card: "Obama brings 22,000 troops out of Iraq, cuts war spending by $30 billion." (salon.com)

US diplomat resigns over Afghan war: "Like the Soviets, we continue to secure and bolster a failing state, while encouraging an ideology and system of government unknown and unwanted by its people" (google.com)

The House Intelligence Committee just finished a review and found that the CIA did lie to Nancy Pelosi. (deseretnews.com)

1 in 3 women are Raped in the Military: Tina Priest raped in Iraq and later found dead of a gunshot in her dorm. U.S. Army claims Tina committed suicide 11 days after she was raped. (afterdowningstreet.org)

Soldier Joe Glenton leads Stop the War demo

2009-10-25T07:18:00.001-07:00

As 62% poll against war in Afghanistan.

Rebel British soldier calls for Afghan exit (guardian.co.uk)

Nice Guy USA "Sorry" For Murdering Afghan Civilians - U.S. military convoy opens fire on civilian vehicle, kills child, two women and a man. (news.uk.msn.com)

If this is progress, what would an Afghan disaster look like? (thenational.ae)

After documenting that people were being boiled alive at the behest of the CIA, 20 year career British diplomat is told, “Dear Ambassador, we are concerned that you are perhaps over-focused on human rights to the detriment of commercial interests.” (consortiumnews.com)

At least 34 U.S. service members have died in Afghanistan this month. (armytimes.com)

War Criminals Are Becoming The Arbiters Of Law:We’re entitled to do whatever the hell we want to the Palestinians (informationclearinghouse.info)

UN Looks Into Sri Lanka War Crimes, Ignores US War Crimes (voanews.com)

Car bombs targeting Baghdad government kill 91 (google.com)

UN Looks Into Sri Lanka War Crimes, Ignores US War Crimes (voanews.com)

All people of conscious are offended and outraged by this situation, but while Hamas is not doing anything, Israel is strangling a million civilians (uk.news.yahoo.com)

ACLU: U.S. Among World's Worst Surveillance Societies. (aclu.org)

Tony Blair's man in America says Afghan War is futile

2009-10-22T08:37:00.001-07:00

http://stopwar.org.uk/content/view/1549/1/

Tony Blair's man in America says Afghan War is futile

Will Sir Christopher Meyer, former British ambassador to Washington, join the Stop the War demonstration on 24 October?

The war in Afghanistan is "madcap" and "futile" and serves "no conceivable national interest", says Sir Christopher Meyer, who as Britain's ambassador to Washington had a ringside seat on the dispatch of troops there.

The fighting is "a waste of blood and treasure" because there is no coherent purpose behind it, he argues scornfully in a new book.

Meyer, who was Tony Blair's man in America from 1997 to 2003, writes that: "After nearly eight years in Afghanistan . . . there is still no clarity about why we are there. Is it to stop Al-Qaeda returning on the shirt-tails of the Taliban? Or are we trying to create the conditions to transform Afghan governance and society? Depending on who you speak to — British or American — it is either, both, or something in the middle.

"A punitive expedition against Al-Qaeda is one thing; but to seek, against the grain of history, to rebuild Afghanistan from the ground up, in the name of a western concept of democracy and human rights, is futile.

"If this madcap venture is to take 40 years, as General Sir David Richards, chief of the general staff, averred this year, no conceivable national interest can be served by such an eccentric concentration of resources on a country of marginal importance."

Meyer adds: "The poor, bloody infantry can win a thousand firefights in Helmand province, and earnest officials from the Department for International Development can make plans for a bridge here, a dam there; but until these efforts are linked to a political process, underpinned by diplomacy, they are so much waste of blood and treasure."

Weds. 21: Meeting Tonight 8.00, FMH, Bean St.

2009-10-21T08:06:00.000-07:00

Poland signs up to new US shield - Polish Prime Minister has declared his country ready to take part in a revised US missile defence plan. (news.bbc.co.uk)

Pat Buchanan advises "traditional Americans" to join the "Oath Keepers" - a conservative organization of ex-military personnel and police officers willing to violently defy the current administration. (intershame.com) - sometimes it's hard to work out if the bigger threat to world peace is the American government or the American opposition.

The truth is out! Sequoia Voting Systems releases code by mistake. Revealed was thousands of lines of MS-SQL source code that appears to influence the logical flow of the election (dailykos.com)

Fully armed MQ-9 Reaper (UAV) goes rogue in Afghanistan, has to be shot down by military (baronshobbies.com)

UN puts Iran deal on the table: Exporting uranium has been seen as a way for Iran to get the fuel it needs, while giving guarantees to the West that it will not be used for nuclear weapons. (news.bbc.co.uk)

London Demo: Troops Out of Afghanistan, Oct 24th

2009-10-18T04:43:00.000-07:00

London Demo: Troops Out of Afghanistan, Oct 24th
For minibus from Hull: contact 07812 838701, immediately.

Since taking office, President Obama has sanctioned at least 41 Central Intelligence Agency drone strikes in Pakistan that have killed between 326 and 538 people, many of them, critics say, “innocent bystanders, including children,” according to a published report. (pubrecord.org)

ISRAEL'S Education Ministry has recalled all copies of a history textbook because of a passage alleging "ethnic cleansing" of Palestinians during the 1948 war (theaustralian.news.com.au)

The knock on the door can come in the middle of the night, or while you're feeding the kids their breakfast. For the wives and girlfriends of men serving in Afghanistan, it's the sound they most dread. (guardian.co.uk)

Ex-US national security advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski on Afghan war and the election. (english.aljazeera.net) ...

Iraq ratifies oil deals with China and Britain. (news.bbc.co.uk)

The barefaced greed of bankers and their bonuses beggars belief - Have the banks no shame??? (telegraph.co.uk)

Fallujah new born babies: deaths and deformities

2009-10-17T04:13:00.000-07:00

In September 2009, Fallujah General Hospital had 170 new born babies, 24% of whom were dead within the first seven days, a staggering 75% of the dead babies were classified as deformed. (unobserver.com)

US Federal deficit hits all-time high $1.42 trillion (breitbart.com)

US embassy found involved in importing weapons to Pakistan (paktribune.com)

30,000 Pakistani troops attack Taliban in South Waziristan (cbc.ca)

fate of ethnic Germans deported by Stalin

2009-10-16T13:37:00.000-07:00

A Russian academic investigating the fate of ethnic Germans deported by Stalin during World War II was arrested and ordered to remain silent by the FSB, who seized his research. (news.bbc.co.uk)

Outrage: House Sneakily Passes Bill Banning Release of Photos Showing Detainee Abuse (alternet.org)

Despite protests from Israel, the U.N. Human Rights Council has endorsed the Goldstone report. The report calls for the U.N. Security Council to refer the matter to the International Criminal Court if the Israelis or Palestinians fail to investigate the alleged abuses themselves. (reuters.com)

Pakistan declares guerrilla war under way by Taliban, dozens die (news.yahoo.com)

Why are we ignoring the far right terror threat?

2009-10-15T13:51:00.001-07:00

Johann Hari: Why are we ignoring the far right terror threat? The West Yorkshire Police recently launched a huge series of raids against far-right groups and found them in possession of 80 bombs – considerably more even than any jihadi group has been caught with in British history (johannhari.com)

Unreal: French Troops Were Killed and Mutilated Because Italy Was Paying Bribes to the Taliban, Then Failed to Inform Incoming French Forces.... (timesonline.co.uk)

Five Facts About Afghanistan (mwcnews.net)

I don't want to shake your hand. It has blood on it

2009-10-14T04:09:00.001-07:00

Yorkshire Father to Tony Blair: "I don't want to shake your hand. It has blood on it – the blood of my son...You took us to war on a lie and you are responsible for all those deaths in Iraq. One day it will come back on you and you'll have to pay for what you did." (yorkshirepost.co.uk)

Afghanistan is a war of lies (essential reading for anyone still foolish enough to think this is a just war) (ericmargolis.com)

Obama, If You Get Afghanistan Wrong, It Could Derail Your Presidency - The U.S. can't defeat the Taliban by employing overwhelming military power. (alternet.org)

Afghanistan Is A Lost Cause - It’s surely time for the US president to face an unpalatable truth. Even the mighty superpower with the most sophisticated weapons in the world can’t win them all. Sometimes victory entails knowing when to quit. (arabnews.com)

Italian dictator Benito Mussolini 'was recruited by MI5' (telegraph.co.uk)

Obama quietly deploying 13,000 more US troops

2009-10-13T10:20:00.001-07:00

Obama quietly deploying 13,000 more US troops to Afghanistan (guardian.co.uk)

"Cheney/Kristol had their day. They got to do exactly what they wanted to do -- torture, preemptive war, abandoning the rule of law, abandoning democratic norms, alienating allies, ignoring the concept of international cooperation -- and they failed anyway." (alternet.org)

"Post Peace Prize, Obama Speeds Shipment Of Bunker-Busters To Hit Iran" ?? (airamerica.com)

Iraqi cancer figures soar; Doctors blame depleted uranium (beagle17.gnn.tv)

Iraqi cancer figures soar. Locals blame depleted uranium from US ammunition used in the 2003 invasion. (english.aljazeera.net)

You have my son's blood on your hands.

2009-10-12T01:12:00.000-07:00

Blair attempts to shake hand of dead soldier's father. Father refuses, shouting "Don't you dare. " (mailonsunday.co.uk)

Obama receives Nobel Peace Prize... for not being Bush.

And it remains true. He isn't Bush.
And just maybe it will save Iran...

On the other hgand... Obama brings another honor to America. Rachel Maddow lays out the case for the Peace Prize. Pretty convincing, actually. (msnbc.msn.com)

How the Afghan Election Was Rigged ... (time.com)

"Police forces across Canada... are immediately changing their Taser use policy after the manufacturer issued a directive that officers should not aim the weapon at a suspect's chest." (thestar.com)

Amendment Prevents KBR and Halliburton From Getting Away With Rape

2009-10-08T06:01:00.000-07:00

Thanks To Al Franken, The Senate Passes Amendment To Prevent KBR and Halliburton From Getting Away With Raping Employees (Literally) (huffingtonpost.com)

October 24th - minibus to London

2009-10-06T11:11:00.000-07:00

October 24th - minibus to London: £20 / £15, contact without delay: 07812 838701.

When the army's in the dock, Justice swaps her crown for a bandana

Monbiot, Guardian. Oct 5.

So let me get this straight US Government, it's ok for people to use twitter during protests in countries like Iran, whose government you oppose, but when one of your citizens tweets during a protest you don't approve of you arrest him, then have the FBI tear his house apart? WTF, police state?? (democracynow.org)

You can date the end of dollar hegemony from China's decision last month to sell its first batch of sovereign bonds in Chinese yuan to foreigners - "We are only beginning to grasp the enormity and historical significance of what has happened." (telegraph.co.uk)

October 24th - Hull Minibus to London

2009-10-04T09:31:00.000-07:00

October 24th - minibus to London: £20 / £15, contact without delay: 07812 838701.

What Obama Should Have Said: US Compliance with International Law (jurist.law.pitt.edu)

Iran’s nuclear threat is a lie. Obama's "showdown" with Iran has another agenda. The media have been tasked with preparing the public for endless war. (newstatesman.com)

The Obama Adminstration has fired a top US diplomat at the UN for the heinous crime of insisting that the manifest and widespread fraud in the Afghan elections be investigated. (chris-floyd.com)

Another Year of War in Afghanistan. An unspoken mantra remains in effect: When in doubt, keep killing. The knotty question is: Exactly who and how?" (counterpunch.org)

Guantánamo Story: Judge Confirms That An Innocent Man Was Tortured To Make False Confessions (inteldaily.com)

Election Is a False Hope for Change

2009-09-25T23:49:00.000-07:00

Afghan Presidential Election Is a False Hope for Change

By Haroun Mir

Gaza's Water Supply Near Collapse

2009-09-21T07:06:00.000-07:00

Gaza's Water Supply Near Collapse. "The International Committee of the Red Cross has warned that Gaza's access to safe supply of drinking water could cease at any time." (ipsnews.net)

Noam Chomsky: "That the US justification for its drug programs abroad is even regarded as worthy of discussion is yet another illustration of the depth of the imperial mentality." (greenleft.org.au)

Russia scraps missile plans

2009-09-20T11:16:00.001-07:00

In reaction to Obama's scrapping the Eastern Europe missile shield, Russia scraps their missile plans (news.yahoo.com)

The more closely people look at the Afghan election, the more obvious it becomes that it was a complete and utter sham. (guardian.co.uk)

Obama sticks to his guns on CIA torture probe (rawstory.com)

What No One Is Telling You: 100,000,000 Americans Already Use Government Health Care (dailykos.com)

Why I threw the shoe - Muntazer al-Zaidi.

2009-09-19T02:30:00.000-07:00

The person who threw a shoe at Bush speaks. Why I threw the shoe - Muntazer al-Zaidi. (guardian.co.uk)

Oh brother! Obama to extend Patriot Act

2009-09-16T02:34:00.001-07:00

Obama: I support extending Patriot act provisions (hosted.ap.org)

US deaths: the real number tops 1650

2009-09-14T06:54:00.001-07:00

Undercounting deaths of US soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan: Contractor deaths are rarely reported. "Add at least 1,360 private contractors working for the U.S. and the number tops 6,500." (blogs.reuters.com)

Baghdad Green Zone attacked during Biden visit-Does this sound like a safe place to go? (hosted.ap.org)

Obama renews Cuba trade embargo (news.bbc.co.uk)

Age of Stupid, Reel Cinema from Sept 25th

2009-09-07T10:19:00.001-07:00

Age of Stupid, Hull, Reel Cinema from Sept 25th

Bombs will kill women in Afghanistan: The Lies of Women being free in Afghanistan. (rethinkafghanistan.com)

Afghanistan: Obama sending 14000 more troops

2009-09-03T04:35:00.000-07:00

U.S. to boost combat force in Afghanistan, sending 14000 troops. (latimes.com)

CNN: Majority Of Americans Want U.S. Out Of Afghanistan War (youtube.com)

Afghan Elections: "Massive fraud, massive ballot stuffing..." - Afghans very sceptical. The Taliban aren't winning - but the government are losing...

Bush and the supreme crime against humanity

2009-09-02T11:19:00.001-07:00

A Nuremburg chief prosecutor says there is a case for trying Bush for the "supreme crime against humanity, an illegal war of aggression against a sovereign nation". (alternet.org)

CIA declares itself and its torturers above the law and refuses to turn over torture documents despite a federal judge ordering the agency to produce the documents. (rawstory.com)

Bush's third term? You're living it (atimes.com)

Blackwater Founder Accused of Intent to Kill

2009-08-30T13:27:00.001-07:00

Blackwater Founder Accused in Court of Intent to Kill (washingtonpost.com)

McCain pushes back against Cheney, says torture violated law (rawstory.com)

They were buddies and they're buried together.

2009-08-28T03:31:00.000-07:00

"If Afghanistan, one of the poorest countries in the world, and really hardly a country at all, is a threat to US national security, so is Malawi, Burundi and Fiji. American national security is not to the slightest degree threatened by the Taliban." (commondreams.org)

Cindy Sheehan Protesting Obama’s Illegal War Of Agression (therobalution.com)

The "art" of rendition and systematic torture

2009-08-26T06:46:00.001-07:00

First documents to be released to show the "art" of rendition and the systematic torture that ensues. In a nutshell these documents are sick and prove that the Bush admin. was a sadistic bunch of thugs. (pubrecord.org)

Obama’s continuation of rendition is yet another repudiation of his campaign promises. Foreign Affairs 2007: Obama said he would “eliminate the practice of extreme rendition, where we outsource our torture to other countries.” (wsws.org)

200 Dead Memorial, Sat 22nd Aug, Hull

2009-08-25T10:53:00.001-07:00

A gathering was held on Saturday 22nd at Hull's war memorial to remember the 206 dead British soldiers and the tens of thousands of dead of Afghanistan. Jonathan Young, aged 18 from Hull, had been killed two days prior. A call was made to bring the troops home and to stop the killing. Members of Hull Stop the War Coalition and Hull area Green Party, among others, took part.

Judge Orders Fed To Disclose Who Received Bailout Trillions (infowars.com)

The Truth About The Afghan Election

2009-08-24T07:26:00.001-07:00

The Truth About The Afghan Election (counterpunch.com)

OCTOBER 24th DEMO: 69% in Britain say troops home now: Demonstrate London Saturday 24 October.

Brazil calls Obama over US bases (news.bbc.co.uk)

UK to share fingerprints with Canada, Australia (news.zdnet.co.uk) !!!!!

Bush’s day of reckoning is inevitable, because as a signatory of the convention against torture Obama will be in violation of International Law by not investigating Bush. (commondreams.org) - Hmm, we'll see...

The Real Boston Tea Party was an Anti-Corporate Revolt (commondreams.org)

CIA Report Into the Bush Administration’s Torture Programs, Finally Released. (timesonline.co.uk)

"200 Dead", 12.30pm, Saturday, War Memorial, Hull

2009-08-21T07:23:00.000-07:00

"200 Dead", 12.30pm, Saturday, War Memorial, Hull

There will be a memorial tomorrow, Saturday 22nd Aug, at 12.30pm at the War Memorial, opposite Paragon Station, Hull.

There will be a reading of the names of the dead both British and Afghani.

Hull Stop the War Coalition will attend with a stall and banner.

All other groups and individuals are welcome.

Currently there are 206 British dead.

AFGHANISTAN IN QUOTES

TONY BENN - I think you have to understand the history of this. Britain invaded Afghanistan in 1839, captured Kabul, and was defeated the following year, and 15,000 British troops were killed in the retreat. Britain invaded Afghanistan in 1879. Britain was in Afghanistan in 1919. The Russians were in Afghanistan. I led a delegation to the Russian ambassador in London to protest that. The United States government, President Bush, the first one, funded Osama bin Laden to fight the Russians to get them out of Afghanistan. ... And the situation we’re in now is very straightforward. The United States and NATO, forty countries with 64,000 troops, in eight years have been unable to defeat the Taliban. And this is a Vietnam War for America and for the rest of the—well, for the people involved, soldiers and civilians on both sides, it’s an absolute tragedy.

Marina of RAWA, interviewed by John Pilger - “We, the women of Afghanistan, only became a cause in the west following 11 September 2001, when the Taliban suddenly became the official enemy of America. Yes, they persecuted women, but they were not unique, and we have resented the silence in the west over the atrocious nature of the western-backed warlords, who are no different. They rape and kidnap and terrorise, yet they hold seats in [Hamid] Karzai’s government. In some ways, we were more secure under the Taliban. You could cross Afghanistan by road and feel secure. Now, you take your life into your hands.”

John Pilger - The truth about the “good war” is to be found in compelling evidence that the 2001 invasion, widely supported in the west as a justifiable response to the 11 September attacks, was actually planned two months prior to 9/11 and that the most pressing problem for Washington was not the Taliban’s links with Osama Bin Laden, but the prospect of the Taliban mullahs losing control of Afghanistan to less reliable mujahedin factions.

"To me, I confess, [countries] are pieces on a chessboard upon which is being played out a game for dominion of the world."
Lord Curzon, viceroy of India, speaking about Afghanistan, 1898

Rex Tomb, spokesman, FBI’s public affairs unit - “The reason why 9/11 is not mentioned on Osama bin Laden’s Most Wanted page is because the FBI has no hard evidence connecting bin Laden to 9/11.”

Ali al-Megrahi released the following statement

2009-08-21T04:08:00.000-07:00

Released on compassionate grounds, the man who probably didn't bomb Pan Am 103, al-Megrahi released the following statement: (news.bbc.co.uk)

UK 'can't find' $13bn in military hardware (abc.net.au)

CIA assassination program had been outsourced to Blackwater, ex-officials say (latimes.com)

It's not just that the CIA wanted to outsource assassinations to Blackwater; it's that they were ready to directly pay the company's executives millions of dollars without a contract in an act of amazing government corruption (trueslant.com)

Iraq - refugees still not allowed to bury the dead

2009-08-20T09:52:00.000-07:00

Camp Ashraf, Iraq - refugees still not allowed to bury the dead, lawyers barred from obtaining visas, American military witnesses silent (themarknews.com)

One in nine Americans uses food stamps (wsws.org)

Tom Ridge now admits that the Bush Adminstration urged him to raise the Homeland Security alert level during the heat of Bush's re-election campaign, an act so blatantly political he *considered* resigning over it. (usnews.com)

In Iraq? Afghanistan? For 100 years? NO.

2009-08-17T12:35:00.000-07:00

U.S. troops could be forced by Iraqi voters to withdraw a year ahead of schedule under a referendum the Iraqi government backed Monday. (washingtonpost.com)

with Congressmen Dennis Kucinich (D) and Ron Paul (R).

STOP THE BLAME GAME

2009-08-17T07:25:00.000-07:00

STOP THE BLAME GAME

I am told I come first

learn to like myself

maybe then

I might learn to like others

who am I anyway

and what is there to like

where do I start

my nose stubby and short

sitting oddly between my brows

flared too much at the tips

hoping to touch the base of my cheeks

STOP

enough of this rant

don’t let me torture you

with figments from my closet

just one more thought

to seal my promise

“don’t point the finger of blame

at another

you’ll find three more pointing back at you”

reminds me of our Prime Minister

wallowing in the pan of grief

mourning the two hundred dead

soldiers in Afghanistan

whilst warning of the increasing span

to preserve our National Interest

mind body and soul

how dreadful

our Prime Minister cannot be told

stop the blame game

there must be something

about ourselves that we like

louis ivan jones

copywrite August 2000

email uis@uis.karoo.co.uk

199 British soldiers dead. Afghanistan

2009-08-15T02:11:00.000-07:00

The Russians couldn't win it. NATO can't win it. Afghans will finish the job. As is their right.

New Afgan law: husbands can deny food to wives who don't submit to their sexual demands. (guardian.co.uk)

arguably, the United States is the most flagrant violator of NPT commitments, frequently intervening to prevent other NPT-signatories from exercising their "inalienable rights," affirmed under the NPT, to access nuclear energy for peaceful purposes, "without discrimination."

GENERAL

UK Government's statement that ID card has not been hacked proves that it really is just another useless bit of plastic (computerweekly.com)

Britain “sleepwalked into a surveillance society” -- there is a request to snoop on the public every 60 secs (telegraph.co.uk)

Eyewitness from Honduras: The U.S. is involved in what is happening in Honduras up to its eyeballs. The leaders of the coup government, the military and those financing the coup are all the principal allies of the U.S. (laprogressive.com)

Calling the Bank's Bluff: Why a Debtor's Revolt Would Work.

Taser International launches court action to quash inquiry's recommendations for preventing taser deaths. (cbc.ca)

Geneva Conventions turn 60 years old

2009-08-12T02:25:00.001-07:00

Today the Geneva Conventions turn 60 years old. Despite the fact that 194 states have ratified them, it still faces a struggle for respect. (news.bbc.co.uk)

More than 300 UK children a day are being put on to the DNA database, around one in six are likely to have never been convicted of any crime. (telegraph.co.uk)

Sibel Edmonds offers details of Turkey’s covert operations in U.S. (reporter.am)

Another U.S. Missile Kills at Least 10 in Pakistan Tribal Area (nytimes.com)

University researchers get Sequoia e-voting machine, reverse engineer ROM, demonstrate vote-count altering hack (theregister.co.uk)

Nosocomial infections are infections which are a result of treatment in a hospital or a healthcare service unit, but secondary to the patient's original condition.

U.S., Britain and Israel have tried to bypass the Geneva Conventions

2009-08-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

U.S., Britain and Israel have tried to bypass the Geneva Conventions on the grounds that they do not apply to "terror suspects" or "terrorists" (commondreams.org)

Two convicted for refusal to decrypt data (theregister.co.uk)

Authorities made over half a million requests to access private emails and telephone records in the UK last year (news.com.au)

Blackwater = Murder, Inc.? Almost all nation's leading newspapers fail to cover explosive new allegations from two company employees (bradblog.com)

Burma: Suu Kyi house arrest extended 18 months... American who swam to meet her... 7 years hard labour. (sbs.com.au) - Perhaps Clinton can work his magic agian...

Facepalm: "People such as scientist Stephen Hawking wouldn't have a chance in the U.K., where the NHS would say the life of this brilliant man, because of his physical handicaps, is essentially worthless." (ibdeditorials.com)

Karzai family has opium and blood on their hands

2009-08-10T15:46:00.001-07:00

The Karzai family has opium and blood on their hands. They systematically install low-level officials up to provincial governors to make sure that, from the farm gate, the opium is moved unfettered. This is the man who has been presented internationally as the symbol of the “democracy”? (wsws.org)

SUNDAY 9th AUG - Hiroshima Day

2009-08-09T02:26:00.001-07:00

SUNDAY - Quaker Meeting - Hiroshima Day
12.30pm, Sunday 9th August 2009.
Peace Garden, Hull. (College end of Queen's Gardens)

leader of the Pakistani Taliban killed last week - sets off a power struggle within the fundamentalist sect. (juancole.com)

Chicago - Free Gary McKinnon

2009-08-06T07:41:00.000-07:00

Chicago - Free Gary McKinnon
Chicago - with Chrissie Hinde, Dave Gilmour, Bob Geldof and Gary McKinnon.

Harry Patch is buried today. 1,400 people will attend inside Wells Cathedral, thousands more outside. Two soldiers each from the armies of Belgium, France and Germany will also accompany the coffin. (guardian.co.uk)

Gordon Brown 'suppressed defence report'

2009-08-05T09:54:00.001-07:00

Gordon Brown 'suppressed defence report' revealing waste of up to £2.5 billion a year (google.com)

John Pilger Wins Sydney Peace Prize

By the Sydney Peace Foundation
“For work as an author, film-maker and journalist as well as for courage as a foreign and war correspondent in enabling the voices of the powerless to be heard. For commitment to peace with justice by exposing and holding governments to account for human rights abuses and for fearless challenges to censorship in any form.’ Continue

Make Wars History - Crime Reporting Campaign

SUNDAY - Peace Vigil for Hiroshima

2009-08-04T03:04:00.001-07:00

SUNDAY - Peace Vigil for Hiroshima
Peace Garden, Hull. (College end of Queen's Gardens)
12.30pm, Sunday 9th August 2009.

MI5 men could face 'torture' perjury charge over Guantanamo prisoner (dailymail.co.uk)

Call For Inquiry Into Alleged UK Role In Torture (theherald.co.uk) *

Claims Of British Complicity In Torture Abroad: MPs And Peers Call For Independent Inquiry (news.sky.com)

BBC: International debate is needed on the use of autonomous military robots

The 44th president of the United States was elected amid hopes that he would roll back his country's global dominance. Today, he is commander-in-chief of an unprecedented network of military bases that is still expanding. (zmag.org)

Home Office says immigrants need to contribute to UK's "democratic life", but anti-war activism could count against you (guardian.co.uk)

Panetta basically pardons the entire Bush administration. (rawstory.com)

The Economist forced to back down over lies on Venezuela and Bolivia (links.org.au)

Al Qaeda offers ceasefire in exchange for withdrawal from Afghanistan (abcnews.go.com)

US - A Coalition of One

2009-08-01T09:50:00.000-07:00

US now "Coalition of the One" (google.com)

Has Iran 8 weeks left? After a joint American-Israeli exercise which included training on the in-flight refueling of Israeli F-16i attack jets by American airplanes, the US tells Israel that Iran has 8 weeks left (thenation.com)

Afghanistan: US up to its ears in trouble - The US is not just fighting the Taliban, they are fighting the Pashtun people (therealnews.com)

MPs McKinnon letter to Obama,Telegraph, 1 AUG 2009

John Rees on the Israel-Palestine Conflict

2009-08-01T03:29:00.000-07:00

Chilcot Iraq Inquiry must tell us the truth, Hull Stop the War demands.

2009-07-29T08:39:00.000-07:00

Chilcot Iraq Inquiry must tell us the truth.

We welcome the new inquiry into the Iraq War – but with a few caveats.

Martin Deane says, "The Stop the War Coalition has consistently worked against the badly mistaken so-called War on Terror, especially against the War on Iraq knowing already how terribly people had suffered under US-UK sanctions and air attacks - and knowing the determination of the Bush administration to press for illegal regime change against Saddam Hussein.

"After 6 years of fighting in Iraq, British troops have finally been brought home often only to be sent back to Afghanistan - a conflict which also should have ended.

"The Butler Report completely exonerated Blair of any wrongdoing. We hope the Chilcot Inquiry doesn't repeat that mistake."

Even Lord Butler himself was not content with his Report alone and went public to say the dossiers on Hussein left out important caveats on the quality of intelligence and also regretted the “grave flaw” that Parliament “had insufficient control over the executive”.

Now we fear the Chilcot Inquiry will be another "stitch-up" since it :

is to be held in secret – as Blair apparently pushed for
does not require statements under oath,
does not have power of subpoena,
will report only after a year - by which time elections will have taken place and we'll probably have a new government.

Chilcot will fail to restore people’s faith in government if it does not officially reveal Blair’s role in deciding to go to war by early 2002. An honest inquiry will reflect more clearly how the Prime Minister made this early decision and how indeed intelligence, facts and dossiers were fixed, manipulated and moulded to get precisely that outcome.

Finally Chilcot should underscore the rule of international law and attack the specious last-minute legal justifications that the Blair government undertook.

"Prior to hostilities, the war on Iraq inspired the biggest peace demonstration in British history," Martin Deane goes on: "As the unfixed facts show, the British people were right and Bush and Blair were wrong."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Notes

Martin Deane

Sec. Hull Stop the War Coalition

Butler Report

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_politics/3892809.stm

Butler - dossiers on Hussein left out caveats on quality of intelligence

had insufficient control over the executive.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2004/dec/10/uk.butler

Blair pressed for secret inquiry

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/blair-demanded-hold-iraq-inquiry-in-secret-1711549.html

We have lost nearly 200 UK lives in Afghanistan now.

2009-07-28T13:25:00.000-07:00

In the news...

2009-07-28T13:21:00.000-07:00

Reprieve, a British-based legal rights group, has begun legal action against the UK government for allowing the illegal transfer of a terrorism suspect from Indonesia to Egypt where they say he was tortured for three months before being moved to Gitmo. (alertnet.org)

Britain to withdraw last forces from Iraq - Iraqi parliament fails to pass deal for troops to protect oil, help in training (msnbc.msn.com)

Calling time on Afghanistan

2009-07-27T04:55:00.002-07:00

Letter to Hull Daily Mail

We held a stall in Hull on Saturday where our petition called for all the UK troops in Afghanistan to be brought home.

For 8 years we have been fighting Afghans, first longer than the Great War and now longer than the Second World War. The costs are huge and recently estimated at £12 billion.

Many people signed our petition including mothers and other relatives of soldiers serving out there. There are military families against the war in Hull and they know about huge levels of corruption in the government, the staggering amount of heroin produced there, and its history where empires have fought over it, whether the British Empire, or the Russians, or now American-led NATO - and usually they have lost.

The proper principle that should be at work here is not the decision of powerful, militaristic countries to conquer others and remake them in their own image, or take advantage of oil reserves or territory, but the principle of self-determination where a people find their own way.

Of course the real cost is in lives, British soldiers on the one hand and Afghan militants on the other and then their civilians too in far greater numbers.

Soldiers and armies have to follow orders. We don't. We have every right and duty to question what our country gets involved in and when it sends our forces into harm's way and that includes knowing when to call time.

Martin Deane
Secretary

-------------------------------------
Saving the Bankers With a Make-Believe War

By Peter Chamberlin

July 26, 2009 ""Information Clearing House" -- Pakistanis and Americans have a common problem, which is also shared by every other country on the planet–corruption in high places. The world is made to fret over the impending loss of the entire capitalist system by the overlords of the Western media, even though, the only loss for the common man will be the chains that bind him. We are all supposed to be grieving deeply for the collapse of the money system which has made so many people rich, people whom the media tells us we all want to be just like.

http://informationclearinghouse.info/article23143.htm

A Generation Betrayed - in memory of Harry Patch

2009-07-27T04:55:00.001-07:00

A generation lost
in mire and blood
a generation betrayed
in the Flanders mud

For country and empire
vast numbers died
as generals blundered
and politicians lied

And still they are lying
as in some foreign field
our young men are dying
for some dubious ideal

hatched by statesmen
in the service of greed
they lie to the public
and the public take heed

just as they did
generations before
and send off their children
to die in the war

organised murder
as Harry Patch said
and each day swells
the legion of dead

when will we learn
from the grief and the pain?
when will we turn
from this pointless campaign?

who is to blame
for this vain sacrifice?
a new generation
is paying the price

now Harry's wise words
are endorsed and exclaimed
by those who sent millions
to be slaughtered and maimed

And the newly sacrificed
in fresh graves are laid
the fruit of another
generation betrayed

by Dave, Hull.

Hull PSC at Youtube: Gaza Demo, Jan 2009

2009-07-27T04:54:00.000-07:00