Party Vibe

ALL LONDON RALLY: Troops Out Of Iraq, Thursday 15 February 7.00pm
Speakers: Tony Benn, George Galloway MP, John Mcdonnell MP, Lindsey German (StWC), Sophie Bolt (CND). Friends Meeting House, Euston Road, WC1. FULL DETAILS: http://www.stopwar.org.uk

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IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) IRAQ: CAN IT GET ANY WORSE?
2) COACHES FROM 100 TOWNS AND CITIES
3) FINANCIAL APPEAL FROM TONY BENN
4) ALL-SCOTLAND DEMONSTRATION: 24 FEBRUARY
5) PEACE CAMP IN DOWNING STREET
6) BRIAN HAW MEETS TONY BLAIR
7) WAR – WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
8) THE DEBATE PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO HAVE
9) THE US MASSACRE THAT NEVER WAS
10) MUSIC, ART AND WAR

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1) IRAQ: CAN IT GET ANY WORSE?
Month by month in Iraq, the scale of death and destruction reaches new levels of horror, with the slaughter of thousands of Iraqi civilians and US and British casualties now higher than at almost any time since the 2003 invasion.

George Bush’s response is to escalate the war with his troop “surge”, which Tony Blair says “makes sense.” Virtually everyone else thinks it is madness. In Britain, the Liberal Democrats have become the first of the three major parties to call for the complete withdrawal of British troops by the end of 2007. In America, much of the establishment which supported Bush’s war crimes in the past can now see the game is up. Calls for the troops to come home are heard across the political spectrum and Barack Obama, the latest media sensation in the US, has put ending the Iraq war at the centre of his bid to become US president in 2008.

Even Russia’s President Putin – no slouch himself when it comes to war crimes in Chechnya – says that the biggest threat to world peace is a “wolf-like” American foreign policy, that “eats and listens to no one”.

Bush’s only answer to this tidal wave of condemnation is more war in Iraq, the intensification of the nuclear arms race and the threat of an attack on Iran (see John Pilger: http://www.zmag.org/sustainers/content/2007-02/03pilger.cfm. A massive expansion of the US military budget will mean that in 2007 the cost of the Iraq war alone will be 800 dollars for every American man, woman and child, paid for by draconian cuts in welfare services for the poor and elderly.

Can it get any worse in Iraq? The answer is, yes, it can, if we let it. The response to the escalation of the Bush-Blair wars must be to do all we can to make our elected representatives act in accordance with the wishes of their electorates. The US anti-war movement has responded magnificently to the challenge. Its demonstrations across America on 27 January brought hundreds of thousands onto the streets for the largest protest since the war began. Campaigns are now running in localities across America to make the US Congress stop Bush in his tracks by withholding the funding he needs to escalate the war.

We in Britain on Saturday 24 February will have our opportunity to give voice to the view of most people in this country that the war must end and all British troops must be removed from Iraq. Everyone who has opposed Tony Blair’s warmongering and the spineless connivance of parliament which has allowed him to get away with it, should do all they can to help make as big as possible the TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ – NO TRIDENT demonstration in London on 24 February. Please publicise the demonstration as widely as you can and encourage your friends, family, work colleagues, fellow students etc to join us.

If you require leaflets, posters, stickers, postcards, badges etc to help publicise the demonstration, please contact the Stop the War national office on 020 7278 6694 or by email at office@stopwar,org,uk.

NATIONAL DEMONSTRATION
Organised by Stop the War, CND and BMI
TROOPS OUT OF IRAQ – NO TRIDENT
SATURDAY 24 FEBRUARY
ASSEMBLE HYDE PARK 12 NOON
MARCH TO TRAFALGAR SQUARE
See for full details: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/_Current/24Feb07Demo.htm

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2) COACHES FROM 100 TOWNS AND CITIES
All the signs are that the national demonstration on Saturday 24 February will be very big, with coaches organised to bring protestors from over 100 towns and cities in England and Wales (Scotland has its own TROOPS OUT demonstration on the same day: see below). There are twelve coach locations in Wales alone, the highest number since 2003.

FOR FULL DETAILS OF COACHES AROUND THE COUNTRY, GO TO: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/_Current/24Feb07Demo.htm#COACHES

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3) FINANCIAL APPEAL FROM TONY BENN
PRESIDENT OF STOP THE WAR COALITION:
The Stop the War Coalition is unable to sell honours or favours to help pay for our work and campaigning. We depend entirely on your donations. With Parliament seemingly incapable of even debating Iraq, with the vital Trident vote only weeks away and with the looming threat of the war spreading to Iran, it is important to get as many people as possible onto the streets on Saturday 24 February, at both the London and Glasgow national demonstrations. We are producing hundreds of thousands of leaflets, posters, postcards, stickers etc. Coaches are being booked and rallies held up and down the country. Press conferences are being organised. We have to fund the staging and efficient running of the demonstration. All of this and much more has to be funded. However large or small a donation you can make will be much appreciated and is very necessary.
Yours in peace, Tony Benn

THERE ARE THREE WAYS TO DONATE TO STOP THE WAR:
* Donate online by credit or debit card
* Donate by phone 020 7278 6694 to make a credit or debit card donation
* Donate by cheque made payable to ‘Stop the War Coalition’. Send to Stop the War Coalition, 27 Britannia Street, London WC1X 9JP

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4) ALL-SCOTLAND DEMONSTRATION: 24 FEBRUARY
After the highly successful Scottish Stop the War Conference on 10 February, attended by 500 delegates, Scotland’s anti-war movement is anticipating a big turnout for the its BIN THE BOMB demonstration in Glasgow on 24 February. FOR DETAILS GO TO: http://www.scotland4peace.org/

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5) PEACE CAMP IN DOWNING STREET
The myth of Basra as a beacon of hope for the rest of Iraq has been shattered beyond repair. Five British soldiers have been killed in the last four weeks. Many more have suffered serious injury. Daily attacks against the British army, whether they are in or out of barracks, have made life as dangerous for the occupying military as it is in Baghdad.

Military Families Against the War will hold a peace camp outside 10 Downing Street over the weekend of the 24 February demonstration, to demand that all British troops are withdrawn and that Blair meet with the military families who have suffered so tragically from his war policies. FULL DETAILS ARE AVAILABLE ON THE MILITARY FAMILIES WEBSITE: http://www.mfaw.org.uk/

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6) BRIAN HAW MEETS TONY BLAIR
Congratulations to Brian Haw, who won the Channel 4 News Most Inspiring Political Figure Award with 54 percent of the vote (Tony Blair got just 8 percent). Brian has been protesting against the Bush-Blair wars day-in day-out for five years. He is still there, despite MPs passing a ludicrous law aimed specifically at getting him removed (See http://www.parliament-square.org.uk/ ).

Winning this award is a testament to Brian’s tenacity and demonstrates the depth of anti-war feeling in Britain. Before the Channel 4 award was announced, Brian had a chance encounter with Tony Blair and their historic meeting was captured on video which you can watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ah_rxnrzMws

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7) WAR – WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR?
Here’s another way to support Stop the War’s financial appeal. A version of the classic anti-war song WAR is about to be released by Tony Blair’s “re-formed” university band Ugly Rumours. The producers of the record say: “We need your help to embarrass Tony Blair. If Blair is in the charts, the media will have to report the success of “his” anti-war hit. To have a top 20 hit in the UK you need only approximately 5000 sales. The track costs £1.50 and we will donate all profits to Stop the War Coalition.”

* FOR FULL DETAILS OF HOW TO BUY TONY BLAIR’S WAR, SEE: http://www.uglyrumours.com
* OR ALTERNATIVELY, YOU CAN ORDER BY TEXTING THE WORD “PEACE1” TO 78789

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8) THE DEBATE PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO HAVE
The refusal of MPs to end Tony Blair war policies – apart from the usual honourable exceptions, — has been one of the British parliament’s most shameful features over the past five years. On March 20, the fourth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, the anti-war movement will hold a People’s Assembly at Westminster Central Hall — opposite the House of Commons — at which MPs who have consistently opposed Blair’s warmongering and delegates from political parties, trade unions, faith and community groups etc will be represented in THE DEBATE PARLIAMENT REFUSES TO HAVE: Why Britain went to war and why the war must end now.

This will be the fourth People’s Assembly organised by Stop the War, which reflects the “democratic deficit” we suffer in this country, due to the refusal of MPs to reflect the majority opinion in this country which opposes the disastrous war in Iraq. Full details of the Assembly will be available soon on the Stop the War website.

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9) THE US MASSACRE THAT NEVER WAS
On 28 January, the world’s media reported that the US military had killed over 200 members of an Iraqi militia from a group called “Soldiers of Heaven” and injured many more. Since then, but largely unreported by the same media, it has been revealed that what took place was not a military operation to prevent a large-scale attack on Najaf, as the Bush administration and it’s puppet Iraqi government claimed, but a massacre by the US army that slaughtered hundreds of Muslim pilgrims on their way to Najaf for a religious ceremony.

Once again we see the mainstream media’s inexhaustible capacity for publishing US government lies as unchallenged facts. And we can be sure that the Najaf massacre was not a unique event but was typical of the carnage which has characterised the Iraq war since its first days of “shock and awe”. FOR A FULL REPORT OF WHAT REALLY HAPPENED AT NAJAF, GO TO: http://www.counterpunch.org/hallinan02092007.html

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10) MUSIC, ART AND WAR
Mark Wallinger’s powerful art installation at Tate Britain, inspired by peace campaigner Brian Haw’s five year protest outside parliament (see above) has received widespread acclaim. Details of this exhibition and other anti-war artists now exhibiting in London’s galleries can be found on Stop the War’s ART AND WAR webpage: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/_Current/ArtandWar.htm

Musician Damon Albern has a new anti-war album – The Good, the Bad and the Queen – which is already one of the fastest selling cds of the year. It will be followed by a much anticipated anti-Bush album from the Canadian band Arcade Fire, which even before its official release has many critics naming it potential cd of the year.

There is a must-see video for Bruce Springsteen’s live performance of “Bring ‘Em Home”, calling for troops out of Iraq, which can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3pD9xJWoIk The Stop the War MUSIC AND WAR webpage has more anti war performances, which range from Eminem to James Blunt: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/_Current/AntiWarMusic.htm