Battle for Haditha
We are
showing Taxi to the Dark Side, directed by Alex Gibney,
which won the 2007 Academy Award for Documentary Feature. The film
focuses on the murder in custody of an Afghan taxi driver who was
beaten to death by American soldiers while being held in
extrajudicial detention at the Bagram Air Base. It goes on to
examine America's policy on torture and interrogation in general,
specifically the CIA's use of torture and their research into
sensory deprivation.
Monday 1 December
7:00pm
Desmond Tutu House, Great Horton Road
Please download and make use of our poster advertising this event.
5,000 march against the war at Labour Party conference
5,000 protestors
marched to the Labour Party Conference in Manchester on Saturday 20
September demanding an end to the government's slavish support for
Bush's wars. The march was organised by
the National Stop the War
Coalition and CND and called
for all troops to come out of Iraq and Afghanistan and for an end
to a foreign policy that risks spreading war.
The demonstration brought together trade unionists, students, pensioners, muslim activists and peace campaigners of all sorts. It was led off by Rose Gentle and other members of Military Families Against The War. As it approached the conference centre the demonstration stopped to hand in a letter of protest to the Prime Minister.
We have some photos elsewhere on this site.
As another British soldier dies, we ask what is this war for?
The death of another British Soldier in Afghanistan shows the
futility of this war.
It brings to 13 the number of British Soldiers killed in the last month. Countless thousands of Afghans have been killed in a war which has raged for 7 years, and has brought great suffering to one of the poorest countries on Earth.
Life expectancy in Afghanistan is 44, and maternal mortality rates are among the highest in the world.
A report by the Senlis Commission has estimated that up to 50% of Afghanistan is now in the hands of the taliban, giving the lie to recent comments by British ministers that Britain is winning the war in Afghanistan.
Reconstruction has been virtually non-existent, and where it has taken place it has mainly involved the building of roads, as these are necessary for the movement of US and allies' armaments and equipment.
This is why Stop the War is calling for Troops Out of Afghanistan. Only an end to this war will see peace in Afghanistan.
Open letter to Prime Minister Gordon Brown - The Iraq war must end now
Stop the War has launched a campaign to get Labour MPs, local councillors, Labour Party and trade union officials to sign an open letter to the next prime minister, calling for:
- Withdrawal of all British troops from Iraq
- Opposition to any attack on Iran
- A break with the war policies of the US government
Download the open letter and the petition from the national Stop the War website.
Stop the War has also published a brochure explaining why - in the wake of Tony Blair's slavish support for all George Bush's wars - Britain needs an independent foreign policy.
A monstrous war crime
2.5% of the Iraqi population, an
average of more than 500 people a day, have been killed since the
start of the war.
Read the evidence and the BBC report that shows that the government was advised not to criticise this study.
Richard Horton, editor of the Lancet writes: "This Labour government is party to a war crime of monstrous proportions. At a time when we are celebrating our enlightened abolition of slavery 200 years ago, we are continuing to commit one of the worst international abuses of human rights of the past half-century. It is inexplicable how we allowed this to happen. It is inexplicable why we are not demanding this government's mass resignation." Read more.
Trident: Not wanted at any
price
Not a deterrent, not independent, a grotesque waste of
money
Q: Who said in 1983: "We don't need
dangerous and costly Trident missiles"?
A: Tony Blair.
Q: Who said in 1984: Trident is
"unacceptable, expensive, economically wasteful and militarily
unsound"?
A: Gordon Brown
