Condoleezza Rice protest at town hall
Julian Todd | 17.03.2006 12:58 | Anti-militarism | Liverpool
A couple dozen of us were outside the Town Hall at 4:30 pm on 15th March to lobby the council meeting about not welcoming the US Secretary of State and former Bush Security Advisor and architect of the Iraq invasion Condoleezza Rice to Liverpool.
One poster said: "Condi Rice not welcome here. (Try the Hague)", in reference to the place where official war criminals are tried.
The Labour concillor Joe Anderson stopped to have a word with us. He said he was against the Iraq war, but not against welcoming Condi Rice's visit, because -- like the LibDem leader Charles Kennedy on Bush's triumphant visit in November 2004 when 400,000 people took to the streets to block his victory parade -- he believes that meeting with her is more important than making a public message that such people have no business walking free in a civilized society.
As he went in, someone shouted, "But she kills children."
"So does Ghengis Khan." Joe Anderson retorted.
Actually he said, "So does Saddam Hussain," but you can substitute one mass murderer who has taken no part whatsoever in the last three years of Anglo-American occupation carnage for another mass murderer, in that kind of a statement. No doubt there will be some dead-enders who will still blame further US bombing of Iraq in 50 years time on Saddam Hussain. The fact is, the war-fighting is wholly of our own making. Always was.
There were few of us in number that most of us got in to watch the the council meeting start. The chairman of Merseyside Stop the War was allowed to make a 3 minute speech to the councillors for our efforts, after which the LibDem block stood up and clapped. The Labour councillors remained quiet and seated, seeming to be so aligned are they with their leadership in 10 Downing Street that principles were irrelevant.
Please come to any demo on 31 March (or whenever they reschedule her visit) to help keep hope for justice alive.
One poster said: "Condi Rice not welcome here. (Try the Hague)", in reference to the place where official war criminals are tried.
The Labour concillor Joe Anderson stopped to have a word with us. He said he was against the Iraq war, but not against welcoming Condi Rice's visit, because -- like the LibDem leader Charles Kennedy on Bush's triumphant visit in November 2004 when 400,000 people took to the streets to block his victory parade -- he believes that meeting with her is more important than making a public message that such people have no business walking free in a civilized society.
As he went in, someone shouted, "But she kills children."
"So does Ghengis Khan." Joe Anderson retorted.
Actually he said, "So does Saddam Hussain," but you can substitute one mass murderer who has taken no part whatsoever in the last three years of Anglo-American occupation carnage for another mass murderer, in that kind of a statement. No doubt there will be some dead-enders who will still blame further US bombing of Iraq in 50 years time on Saddam Hussain. The fact is, the war-fighting is wholly of our own making. Always was.
There were few of us in number that most of us got in to watch the the council meeting start. The chairman of Merseyside Stop the War was allowed to make a 3 minute speech to the councillors for our efforts, after which the LibDem block stood up and clapped. The Labour councillors remained quiet and seated, seeming to be so aligned are they with their leadership in 10 Downing Street that principles were irrelevant.
Please come to any demo on 31 March (or whenever they reschedule her visit) to help keep hope for justice alive.
Julian Todd
e-mail:
julian@publicwhip.org.uk
Comments
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From Slavery to welcoming the cheerleader of muslim genocide- is there no shame?
17.03.2006 19:31
Liverpool, wasn't that where Mandelson sent those two US deathships (for his own personal profit) to be destroyed. Each ship contained enough toxins to murder many people with the consequence of long-term cancers (which is why no facility in the US would dismantle them). Of course, Blair's favorite son left Liverpool long before HIS delicate lungs would be put at risk.
Rice's house slave partner is, of course, Gonzales, the architect of the US goverment's various torture policies. Maybe after Rice has met all of her cheering Liverpudlian fans, the City of Liverpool could issue an invitation to him to visit next. Perhaps they could get him to show all those yet unreleased videos of his people raping and torturing women and kids in Blair/Bush's RAPE-FACTORY, Abu Ghraib. I'm sure Joe Anderson would appreciate the chance to enjoy relaxing in front of his favorite kind of entertainment, images of screaming, helpless, abused muslims.
On, and by the way, the 'Labour' (or New Reich as they are more correctly known) councillors DO have principles. Their principles are that all muslims should be genocided. You know, like Nazi councillors in the 1930's and 1940's having the same principles about Slavs and jews. I mean, it's hardly as if they make any effort to hide them, after all.
Liverpool carries a deep and lasting shame for its part in the vilest human crime of the last millenium, mass human slavery. To give any kind of welcome to an individual as completely evil as Rice shows that the city has made ZERO moral progress since that time.
twilight