Skip to content or view screen version

Protests Against Fallujah Attack

IMC'ista | 08.11.2004 14:29 | Peace not War | Anti-militarism | Iraq

Update 14th Nov: Protests against the attack on Fallujah continue all over the UK. Over the weekend 12th - 14 Nov there were protests in Glasgow, Brixton, and outside the BBC building in London in response to the BBC's "one-sided and misleading" reporting of the attack. A proposed picket of the Glasgow Labour Party offices has been called for Monday 15th, as well as a call to lobby those responsible for cutting off water in Iraq.
Photos from Fallujah | Interview with a Fallujah refugee

Since the war was declared over ("Mission Accomplished") the anti-war movement has been fairly quiet, but that is now changing. Protests have been occuring across the country in response to the assault on Fallujah. On Monday 8th, the day the assault started, there were protests in over 30 towns and cities around the UK, including vigils and protests in Swindon, York and Brighton.

Four people were arrested in Edinburgh as the US Consulate was spattered with blood red paint and covered in anti-war slogans. A further protest took place on Tuesday the 9th.

In Cambridge, protestors staged a
rush-hour demonstration, a rally in Market Square, as well as taking to the roof of the Guildhall with banners [more pics], and spraying anti-war graffiti.

In London hundreds demonstrated outside Downing Street while others blocked roads and painted anti-war graffiti.

Protests also occured in the much publicised build up to the assault with the 'Campaign for Justice for Gordon Gentle' Protest in Glasgow on 30th October, Manchester on Sat 6th Nov, and an activist breaking into the US bomb store at Welford and chalking anti-war slogans onto the bombs on Thurs 4th.

In London several protests and action took place including road blocks and the scaling of the gates to Downing Street, as well as the Foreign Office being splatterd with blood red paint [pics]. On Sunday 7th, there was a protest at Parliament Square, following which campaigners layed flowers at the Cenotaph, before locking on and blocking Whitehall.
London reports and pics [ 10 Nov 1 2, 3 ] [ 7 Nov 1 2, 3 ] [ 6 Nov ].

In Oxford campaigners petitioned their MP, demonstrated ('Naming the Dead') on the 4th and held a Vigil on Sat 6th.

In Wrexham there have been vigils and graffiti on bridges.

News from Iraq: Al-Muajaha | Electronic Iraq | Iraqi blog | Juan Cole blog | Empire Notes blog | also see Jo Wilding and her blog and John Pilger article..
UK Protest + Iraq Info Upcoming London Events | Voices in the Wilderness | Stop the War Coalition | Justice Not Vengeance | Iraq Occupation Focus | Jubilee Iraq.
Indymedia Bristol and Scotland. Indybay Iraq news page.
Protest/Meeting Announcements on the Newswire Cambridge, Manchester, Sheffield, Southampton.

Newswire Posts: Iraq :
14 Nov [ 1] 13 Nov [ 1| 2 ] 12 Nov [ 1 ] 11 Nov [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 ] 10 Nov [ 1 | 2 | 3 ]
9 Nov [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 8 Nov [ 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 ]
7 Nov [ 1 | 2 | 3 ] 6 Nov [ 1 | 2 | 3 ] 5 Nov [ 1 ] 3 Nov [ 1 | 2 | 3 ] 2 Nov [ 1 | 2 ]>br> 31 Oct [ 1 | 2 ]



As the US marines prepare to enter Fallujah to destroy the resistance, supposedly to prepare the way for democracy, protests are already starting around the UK. Fallujah has been almost continuously attacked from the air since Thursday November the 4th, including razing a hospital. US marines now surround the city, awaiting the order of the puppet Iraqi Prime Minister Allawi to invade. A state of emergency has now been declared. The number of civilian casualties can only be guessed at. Fallujah was not included in the recent Lancet paper that estimated 100,000 as the low end of the range of estimates of Iraqi dead. (ZNet on the Lancet). The people of Fallujah have written to the UN asking it to "intervene immediately to prevent another massacre."

On Monday the 8th November the Iraqi interim Prime Minister Ayad Allawi closed Baghdad's international airport for 48 hours and the borders with Syria and Jordan, he declared a curfew in Fallujah and gave the order for U.S. and Iraqi forces began a ground assault. US and Iraqi forces then seized the general hospital, Major Kris Meyle a us marine is quoted ``There were no shots fired and no casualties'' whereas even the BBC said that 35 people had been killed there.

"Iraqis are resisting desperately for their lives and for their country and so far we in the anti-war movement have responded to their courage with deafening silence. Millions of us marched against the war on February 15th 2003, but where were those voices when US tanks rolled into Najaf? I know we tell ourselves we have this power, that when the right moment comes we will really be able to mobilise. But that moment of truth is always deferred. If we have these weapons let us use them now. It's time." (Naomi Klein, 20 Aug)

IMC'ista

Comments

Hide the following 6 comments

EMERGENCY PROTEST AT PARLIAMENT 5.30pm WEDNESDAY NOV 10

08.11.2004 20:35

BRING THE TROOPS HOME NOW

Called by Stop the War Coalition

The tragic death of four people, including three Scottish soldiers, around Camp Dogwood yesterday shows the criminal irresponsibility of Blair's war policy. This disaster comes a day after Bush's election victory which has increased the anxiety of millions round the world. Meanwhile the bombardment of Fallujah continues as US troops prepare a bloody invasion of the city.

For all these reasons Stop the War Coalition have called a protest at Parliament Square on Wednesday 10th November at 5.30pm. The protest will be attended by members of British military families including families of the Black Watch regiment.

The protest will call for all British troops to be withdrawn immediately.

Members of British military families will call for all other families to join together in an urgent national campaign.

All Stop the War groups in London and the South East are asked to mobilise maximum numbers for this vital protest.

At 4pm: Military families will hand in a wreath at Downing Street

5.30 - 7pm: Protest and Rally at Parliament Sq.

stopwar.org
- Homepage: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/


Best wishes for the people of Fallujah

09.11.2004 06:58

Your quest to defend your cities and towns is far more justified than a bunch of foreigners defending the oil interests of a few billionaires. Good luck to the people of Iraq: you are currently the line of defense for the world against the American war machine.

American Citizen


While the US is in Fallujah...

09.11.2004 20:02

This from AlJazeera. It seems that while the US are concentrating on Fallujah, the Iraqi resistance is getting stronger over the rest of the country

Ramadi fighting

In a separate development, anti-US fighters took control of the centre of the Iraqi city of Ramadi after 24 hours of clashes with US forces, an AFP correspondent has said.

The US military could not immediately be contacted for comment.


Five US troops were wounded in
clashes in Ramadi

US forces withdrew Tuesday around 2:00pm (1100 GMT) from Ramadi's main streets to their bases east and west of the city, the correspondent said.

Hermes


...

12.11.2004 20:26

While the world watches on as the US murders thousands of men and women defending their home, the insurgents, many of whom left Fallujah well before the attack, have taken Ramadi. Just who is winning this war? Does that mean the US have to destroy Ramadi next? And I hear they are going to do the same in Mosul.
When the dust settles, there will be no cities left in Iraq. Hell, at least that will make the oil easier to get at.
I can't believe the depths to which we've sunk. It makes me sick. Victory to the resistance.



Rebels 'stage show of strength'

Iraqi rebels seized the centre of the city of Ramadi and attacked police stations elsewhere as US-led troops continued their Falluja assault.
Armed insurgents in Ramadi moved in when US troops withdrew from the Sunni city, a former rebel stronghold.

Iraqi police and national guard stations in Baquba, Kirkuk and Baghdad were also targeted - reports speak of a number of casualties.

The US military said it "associated" the attacks with the Falluja assault.


"The enemy is concentrating on Iraqi security forces " to intimidate them, US Lieutenant General Thomas Metz told reporters at a Pentagon briefing.

Show of force

In Ramadi, about 113km (70 miles) west of Baghdad, hundreds of armed insurgents massed to the heart of the city after US troops had withdrawn.

Rebels - who have recently been fighting US troops in the city - are reported to have been dancing and shooting into the air in a show of force, the BBC's Caroline Hawley in Iraq reports.

"The residents of Ramadi condemn the attack against Falluja and we appeal to the inhabitants of Ramadi to wage jihad [holy war] against the American occupants who want to eradicate Islam," one city resident was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

On Tuesday, rebels also targeted several police stations in and around Baquba, about 60km (40 miles) north of Baghdad, Iraqi officials said.

A number of police officers were injured in the attacks and at least one attacker killed, reports say.

In the oil-rich Kurdish town of Kirkuk - about 250km (155 miles) north of Baghdad - a suspected car bomb outside an Iraqi national guard based killed at least two people, officials said.

In a separate incident, a group of armed men attacked a police station in south-western Doura neighbourhood in Baghdad, police said.

A police source said he believed there were casualties, but gave no details, Reuters news agency reported.

Djinn


And Mosul as well...

12.11.2004 20:45

This from Al Jazeera

Anti-US fighters may have control of Mosul


Friday 12 November 2004, 21:20 Makka Time, 18:20 GMT

Journalists based in Mosul are telling Aljazeera that anti-US fighters in Mosul may have taken control of the northern Iraqi city, contrasting US military statements that the situation is under their control.

Various reports on Friday suggested that Iraqi police and national guards had disappeared from view as masked armed men were wandering freely around Iraq's second largest city.

A main road to the local governorate and police station was littered with roadside bombs, making movement in the heart of the city hazardous, French news agency AFP reported.

Lieutenent Colonel Paul Hastings, the US military spokesman in Mosul, however, said that the situation was under control.

The "governor is actively involved in restoring police presence and is in control of the security situation in the city," he told AFP in an email.

"Mosul is not out of control nor is the city in the control of the insurgents," he said.

'Control the streets'

Eyewitnesses in Mosul told Aljazeera.net that major sections of the city had been seized by anti-US fighters who were seen patrolling the streets.

Independent sources say Mosul is
in the hands of local fighters

"They control the streets, no one is going out for fear of more US air strikes," Abd Allah Ghafar, a freelance journalist in the city told Aljazeera.net in a telephone interview.

"The situation is very bad, there is no security, only armed resistance groups on the streets and it seems there is no government in Mosul," he said.

Another Mosul-based journalist told Aljazeera that US armoured vehicles were forced to retreat from two main bridges they had blocked off after coming under a fierce mortar barrage and rocket-propelled grenade (RPG) fire.

"US forces have separated the two sides of Mosul city by deploying armoured vehicles on the bridges linking them," Muhammad Thu al-Nun said.

'Fierce attacks'

"However, these armoured vehicles have come under fierce attacks by mortar shells and rocket-propelled grenades, forcing them to withdraw and return to their bases."

"The city is now calm," Thu al-Nun added.

But US military spokesman Captain Angela Bowman explained that retreat was carried out at the request of the governorate to allow civilians to attend weekly prayers at the mosques.

Armed local fighters are patrolling
Mosul's streets, say journalists

Bowman admitted there were "pockets of resistance".

"In the southwestern area there are terrorists and insurgents on the streets but this is not city wide. We are still well in control," she said.

A night time curfew, imposed earlier in the week initially until Friday, will remain in place from 4:00pm (1300 GMT) until 6:00am, Hasting said, without specifying when the order would expire.





And this from Democracy Now, www.democracynow.org



As the US siege of the Iraqi city of Fallujah continues, Iraqi resistance fighters are stepping up their campaign against the US occupation across Iraq. In Fallujah, at least 18 US soldiers have been killed since the start of the American ground attack on the city on Monday while more than 100 US soldiers seriously wounded during the offensive arrived in 2 planeloads at the US military hospital in Germany with more expected to arrive over the weekend. The injured soldiers are the latest in a steady stream of arrivals at the hospital since the siege of Fallujah began. The military claims it has killed more than 600 resistance fighters in the city. But with almost no unembedded journalists operating in the city, independent information is very difficult to obtain. The reporting of journalists embedded with the US military is subjected to heavy restrictions from US forces. But Fallujah residents who have managed to escape the city describe the bodies of dead civilians laying in some streets and aid groups say the city is now facing a humanitarian catastrophe. There are an estimated 50,000 civilians remaining in Fallujah. Many of the city"s 300,000 residents fled the city ahead of the US offensive. Meanwhile, a Pentagon spokesperson says that 2 US Super Cobra helicopters have been downed in separate incidents.
In other areas of Iraq, the resistance has taken control of some key areas of the country, raising questions about the US counterinsurgency strategy. Some analysts say the recent gains by the resistance are a direct result of the US focusing its campaign in a city where most of the fighters had already moved to other areas of Iraq. It now appears that the US is facing a dramatic escalation of a coordinated resistance across the country. In Iraq"s third largest city, Mosul, five Iraqi police stations were bombed and the Iraqi resistance has taken over major portions of the city. Reuters is now reporting that the US has begun airstrikes in Mosul. Meanwhile, parts of Ramadi and Sammarah have now been seized by the Iraqi resistance. In Baghdad, The Asia Times is reporting that resistance groups have taken control of several suburbs on the outskirts of Baghdad. We go now to the Iraqi capital where we are joined by independent journalist Dahr Jamail, one of the few unembedded journalists in Iraq right now.

Djinn