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Reclaim The Bases at Northwood, 17/01/04

RTB | 18.01.2004 18:23

Report from RTB event at Northwood, 17 January 2004

Yesterday, some 50 people took part in a theatrical protest around Northwood Military HQ, enacting the "bloody history of Northwood HQ". The activists assembled at Northwood tube station, and walked up to Northwood headquarters. Police blocked the passage on public streets through the MoD housing next to the base, and forced the "procession" to take a longer turn around the base.
At different places, different scenes from the "bloody history of Northwood" were played out. On the first police barrickade, a scene relating to Northwood's role in the Falklands war 1982 was played (see  http://people.freenet.de/ask/falklands1982-lowres.jpg and  http://people.freenet.de/ask/thatcher-gooje-1982-lowres.jpg).
The next stop was dedicated to Operation Desert Fox, the 4-day bombing of Iraq in 1998 (see  http://people.freenet.de/ask/desertfox1998-lowres.jpg and  http://people.freenet.de/ask/desertfox2-1998-lowres.jpg).
The procession then passed the main gate of Northwood HQ, where the heavy policing of the theatrical event was all too obvious (see  http://people.freenet.de/ask/northwood-170104-lowres.jpg). Shortly after, a scene from the Kosovo war 1999 was presented (see  http://people.freenet.de/ask/kosovo1999-lowres.jpg). At pretty corner, the scene of police abuse at the last Reclaim The Bases weekend in April 2003, the war on terrorism was the topic of a presentation (see  http://people.freenet.de/ask/waronterrorism-lowres.jpg).
A ficticious military briefing at Northwood Permanent Forces Headquarters looked at possible future interventions, and the daily planning of future wars at Northwood.
The action (see  http://people.freenet.de/ask/northwood2-170104-lowres.jpg) ended with tea and some snacks.

The event was part of the UK-wide Reclaim The Bases weekend on 17 and 18 January 2004. For more information see  http://www.reclaimthebases.org.uk.

RTB
- e-mail: email@reclaimthebases.org.uk
- Homepage: http://www.reclaimthebases.org.uk