Armed Forces Offices targeted in Oxford
anon | 15.06.2011 03:15 | Anti-militarism | Social Struggles | Terror War | Oxford
In the early hours of 15th June, the offices held by the Armed Forces at 35 St Giles since 1936 were targeted in an expression of independent anti-militarist direct action. Red paint, emblematic of the unneccesary deaths of innocents and servicemen and -women at home and across the world, was poured over the front door and steps in order to cause maximum inconvenience to those who make war possible while masquerading as members of the local community. This was done to impede as far as possible the continuation of business from that location.
It is hoped that the red paint will remain a permanent reminder to passers-by of the crimes against humanity that are committed just as frequently by this country as by the worst regimes which are demonised in our media. It is regrettable that our strongly-held moral beliefs have driven us to take this destructive action against a listed building, but the moral imperative requires all people to take direct action wherever and whenever possible, especially when the crimes of militarism and aggression are not merely allowed under law, but given protection and tax breaks. We have no doubt that our actions are vindicated. Mark Twain wrote that it is 'curious that physical courage should be so common in the world and moral courage so rare', and in an age when heroism is defined almost solely in terms of military obedience, the importance of individual action in line with our inner convictions is even greater.
We stand against: war, militarism; the arms trade; the reliance on hard power in international relations; interventionism both military and neoliberally economic; the maintenance of immoral and artificial national boundaries; the disproportionate spending on useless military expenditure in times of ideological spending cuts; the idea that anti-militarism is in some way impractical or naive; and above all the State and its claimed monopoly over legitimate violence.
We stand for: peace, co-operation; international mediation and diplomatic solutions to conflict; the divestment of all educational institutions from the arms trade; the decommissioning (forceful if required, but not violent) of all stages of the arms trade; and above all removal of the causes of all violent conflicts, which is to say all varieties of oppression, results of the class divisions created by monetary and profit-based economics.
We stand in solidarity with: all anti-militarist and pacifist groups and activists within a broad diversity of tactics, including especially Oxford Anti-War Action, SmashEDO, War Resisters International, the Peace Tax Seven, Bradley Manning and others too numerous to mention; anti-cuts and No Borders activists; and all anarchist, grassroots democratic, and libertarian communist groups working to create alternative institutions and smash those which currently encumber and divide the human race.
Photos to follow.
We stand against: war, militarism; the arms trade; the reliance on hard power in international relations; interventionism both military and neoliberally economic; the maintenance of immoral and artificial national boundaries; the disproportionate spending on useless military expenditure in times of ideological spending cuts; the idea that anti-militarism is in some way impractical or naive; and above all the State and its claimed monopoly over legitimate violence.
We stand for: peace, co-operation; international mediation and diplomatic solutions to conflict; the divestment of all educational institutions from the arms trade; the decommissioning (forceful if required, but not violent) of all stages of the arms trade; and above all removal of the causes of all violent conflicts, which is to say all varieties of oppression, results of the class divisions created by monetary and profit-based economics.
We stand in solidarity with: all anti-militarist and pacifist groups and activists within a broad diversity of tactics, including especially Oxford Anti-War Action, SmashEDO, War Resisters International, the Peace Tax Seven, Bradley Manning and others too numerous to mention; anti-cuts and No Borders activists; and all anarchist, grassroots democratic, and libertarian communist groups working to create alternative institutions and smash those which currently encumber and divide the human race.
Photos to follow.
anon
Additions
Pictures
16.06.2011 13:06
Enough has already been said to those commenting negatively, but here's my two bits... The comment in the initial release about moral courage was not a boast - this was a small, largely symbolic act. What we were getting at was that it is regrettable that the physical courage in 'facing german machine guns on a french beach' is easy to come by (especially when propaganda, poor social conditions and conscription have forced millions of 'expendable' young men onto the battlefield to blow holes in each other), but the moral courage to wage peace is so rare. Standing up and being counted is an important part of anti-militarism, and deserves praise, but there are some actions for which it is impractical. There is more to an effective opposition to war than signing petitions, writing to your MP and standing around with banners, showing how proud you are of your anti-militarism, but having no practical effect on a military administration which is entirely isolated from public opinion. The Iraq STW marches are a fine example of this; praiseworthy but ineffective on their own. Martyrdom is not something we seek out.
As for all the rhetoric about needing to oppose fascism, I think perhaps this sort of thing forgets the fact that only once has the British army been used against a fascist army, and has countless times been used in nasty territorial or economic wars. It also willfully ignores the fact that the rise of Hitler and the NSDAP/Nazi party is a direct result of the First World War and the vengeance forced upon them afterwards. That's not to take any of the blame from the fash, but it was militarism that created the conditions for their rise.
I have been to Normandy and seen the war graves from the First and Second World Wars, and you can't help wondering what the fuck it was all for. If you think their sacrifice is something to be proud of, there's something wrong with you. Perhaps you should save up your money and go to Japan and think about the 250,000 civilians killed to humiliate a country that had been trying to surrender from 1942.
anon
Comments
Display the following 10 comments