Skip to content or view screen version

Bury the Dead, Heal the Wounded, End the War

Virginia Moffatt | 07.10.2011 12:58 | Anti-militarism | Terror War

6 peace activists arrested outside Downing St on 10th Anniversary of the Afghanistan War.

Peace Activists arrested outside Downing St on 10th Anniversary of Afghanistan War


Today marks the 10th Anniversary of the war against Afghanistan. This morning peace activists gathered outside Downing Street in a protest organised by the London Catholic Worker. Red paint was poured on the pavement outside the gates to symbolise the blood of the 25,000 civilians and 2,500 soldiers who have been killed or wounded in the last decade. 6 people then blockaded the entrance to Downing Street for an hour before they were arrested. The 6 are John Lynes, Ciaron O’Reilly, Maya Evans, Ben Griffins, Chris Cole and Martin Newell.

In a jointly prepared statement the six declared:

“Today, 7 October 2011, marks ten years of non-stop war. For a decade British, US and NATO forces have been engaged in an on-going war in Afghanistan which has caused the deaths of thousands , wounded countless numbers, destroyed local communities and uprooted families.

The war has been going on so long we have forgotten the reason it started. Was it to capture Bin Laden? To remove the Taliban? To bring peace and human rights to the people of Afghanistan? To make the world a safer place? All these reasons - and more – have been used to try to justify the death and destruction.

The reality of course is that war cannot bring peace, nor armed violence solve political problems. Just the opposite in fact. Ten years is much more than enough time to learn this lesson. Let us bury the dead, heal the wounded and end the war.

By coincidence today also marks the 500th day of U.S. Army Specialist Bradley Manning's imprisonment. Bradley has been accused of releasing footage of a U.S. helicopter gunship massacre of civilians in Iraq (see the footage at www.collateralmurder.com). We call for the immediate release of Bradley Manning and also for the release of British military refusenik Michael Lyons.”



London Catholic Worker  http://londoncatholicworker.org/wwa.html

Picture of policeman cleaning up here:  http://edition.cnn.com/2011/10/07/opinion/ten-years-on-a-new-generation-has-learned-to-oppose-war/

Bury the Dead, Heal the Wounded, End the War!

Virginia Moffatt

Additions

6 released, bailed away from Westminster, next court date Nov 1st.

08.10.2011 08:43

6 have been released approx 11 pm last night.
Bailed away from Westminster to next court date Nov. 1st.

Update on 6


Comments

Hide the following 8 comments

Genocide in Sirte

07.10.2011 15:05

Noticeable by its absence in the article - the fascist imperialist/NATO onslaught against Libya and particulary Sirte which is at this moment being raised to the ground and citizens slaughtered by NATO and Pro NATO so called rebels. The British left should be ashamed to have been taken in by the MSM vicous propaganda against the Libyan state which has contributed to the smoulding bloody mess that Libya now is.
An excellent source of daily updated news and information on the events leading up to the NATO intervention, ongoing political analysis of the situation and recent videos and articles - highly recommended is
Global Civilians for Peace in Libya  http://globalciviliansforpeace.com/

Sam Carrington


Update

07.10.2011 16:17

Latest news is that the 6 are being held in West End Central. The police have said they will be holding them for a "significant" time probably 4 hours at least.

That's a good point about Libya. The focus of this protest was about Afghanistan to mark the 10th anniversary of the war. However, all 6 activists are long time peace protesters and are opposed to all wars everywhere.

Virginia Moffatt


Still Waiting

07.10.2011 21:23

At about 9.30 the police came round to Martin & Ciaron's place and to Chris' to verify addresses(not sure if they went elsewhere). Last conversation with West End said they didn't know when they'd be out...

Virginia Moffatt


Hmmmmm.

08.10.2011 01:00

I fail to see how they can justify having them arrested for that long. The police know who they are and have done for many years.

Can't tell you who I am Virginia but give my love to Maya and the others. And please pass on our thanks for the actions they have taken. An awful lot more courageous than anything our cowardly government is capable of that's for sure.

Thank you and best wishes.

Country Joe.


The Planning and Doing of Aggressive War is the Supreme International Crime.

08.10.2011 06:21

DISMANTLE NATO !!
Since this global law was passed by the Nuremburg Trials ( 1945-46) chaired by U.S. Judge Jackson there has been more than 70 aggressive wars launched throughout the world by the Imperialist Camp, in flagrant disreguard of national and international law, made by the anti-fascist fighters of the second world war, and codified in the anti-fascist covenants.

The liberation of the planet depends on the ending of aggressive war as any nations foreign policy, and the new way forward of collective agree as democracy to settle disputes between nations. This shows that the Imperialist Camp headed by Nato and the U.S. Imperialist systems throughout the world has been acting as lawless wreckers, and international state terrorists for over sixty years now, and we are further and further away from the original solutions suggested by the anti-fascist side such as the United Nations Charter which says the UN comes into being to make war just a long distant memory for the comming generations.

A short way of saying that is 'scrap the war machine and its manufactury' to set the possibility of genuine full freedom and independence. This now translates to RE-TOOL THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION TO THE RENEWABLES, and get out of coal, gas, oil, and atomic energy as those fuels are destroying the planets' livability.

Liberation side is to be found with the paths that save the life of the planet, and that is such as to re-tool to wind, tidal, and solar power which translates to electricity, and is more power than can be used by society. No more blackouts. This non-pollution solution is given freely in natures kinder laws and provides work for all and forever more.

Blocking this liberation path is the Imperialist Militaries headed by NATO which are motivated by the fossil fuels, and presently waring against Libya for the sweet crude which would indeed polute the atmosphere even more, burning out the remaining oxygen ( now already 38% gone since the first industrial revolution).

We cannot live on the replacement which is CO2--carbon-dioxide and therefore must stop all the militaries that are at war against the environment, and by doing so are polluting the living web-of-life beyond natures ability to replace the oxygen we need to live on.

DISMANTLE NATO has become a necessity and stop its endless aggressions against the worlds environment and plants, animals, and peoples. Already NATO has killed over 60,000 Libyan people, and how many hundreds if thousands wounded has still to be reported.

Gaddaffi never did anything that terrible to the Libyan civilians, and probably only the Italian fascist-military invasion and occupation of Libya comes close to the destruction and killing that Nato bombs, missles, DU, and drones are doing 24/7 for six and a half months, against the hospitals, schools, factories, water facilities, food facilities, and electricity facilities as NATO has done. Libya has been laid waste by Nato, and Libya was a paid up member of the United Nations and the AU--African Unity, and not a threat to any country.

The war crimes are of the worst sort possible on earth as Nuremburg Trials describes, and are at the level of Nuremburg Trials depth. Dismantle Nato is a path to liberation from aggressive war and destruction of the peoples living infastructures built up over time and work of the Libyan people, and Afghani's as well as all countries that have been aggressed upon by the largest Killing machine on the planet earth. It is not defensive, and not saving civilian lives, it is aggressive and the most efficient Killer on the planet.

Viva socialist liberation. End pollution wars, not endless wars for more and more pollution. Occupy Nato and dismantle it piece by peace. Workers of the world, unite!!

Hans B.


London Indymedia feature

08.10.2011 07:25

See also this report, with pics, by 'nickleberry':  http://london.indymedia.org/articles/10350

peas and love


Report from Catholic Worker blockade of Gallipolli Barracks, Brisbane, Australia

08.10.2011 08:41

Dear friends,

Yesterday marked the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan.
While most of Australia has been trying to forget about this war which has claimed 28 Australian and tens of thousands of Afghan lives, some of us felt moved enough to go to the place where many, if not most, Australian troops deploy to fight what is called the war on terror (really, the war of terror).

About 25 folks gathered at the main gate of Brisbane’s Enoggera Army Base at 2.30 pm. We planted white crosses with the names of the dead, both Australian and Afghan. We held placards with various messages such as Bring the Troops Home, and War is Terror and placed a ten meter banner, In the Name of God Stop the Wars on the side fence.

We sang songs of peace and justice and prayed prayers of pleading, repentance and hope.
We wove streamers into the chainmesh fence. The streamers were of a special blue colour, the colour used by the Afghan Youth Peace Volunteers. Of all those in Afghanistan struggling for ‘Freedom”, “Peace”, “Justice”, “stability” –from the Taliban to the Warlords, to the politicians, to the Afghan military, to the UN to the US and Aussie soldiers, only this young group of Afghanis, many only children, give us hope and inspiration. Share the hope. (See their website, ourjourneytosmile.com)

A number of us had conversations with the soldier (in plain clothes) assigned to take photos and monitor us. He was keen to talk and there were varying opinions of the sincerity of this. While I am often quite cynical of such interaction I liked him and was happy to take his interest seriously. He said he thought the crosses were a good idea and he actually knew one of the soldiers named. At another time he said most soldiers thought we were attacking them personally, despite our efforts to show otherwise. (Of course, this raises many the perennial questions around speaking the truth /guilt/ personal responsibility/ collective responsibility. Staying silent is the easy, but unhelpful option.) He seemed happy to get the DVD of Collateralmurder and Ground Truth I gave him.

After half hour of prayer and song, a group of us picked up the large banner, and walked onto the road to block a small part of the war- the entrance to the Enoggera base. Five of us also carried pictures of Afghan children killed or traumatised by “our” side’s bombing and shooting. We also each wore a scarf of a the same blue colour mentioned, while I carried a placard with www.collateralmurder.com, directing folks to the video that exposed the US policy of killing unarmed civilians, and put Bradley Manning behind bars for telling the truth. The five of us knelt in front of the banner armed with our weapons of truth, and prayed.

From the footpath, Geoff and Emily read the names of the dead, and we all prayed “Lord have Mercy” as each name was read. Others handed out leaflets and engaged police (who I forgot to mention were there in large numbers), and public. Emily B. was very impressive in her determination to disarm (not literally of course) police and get them to wear little blue ribbons. I think the former may have been achieved, but she had to settle for their blue uniforms being close enough to the right colour.

The police soon came and asked us to move. We all declined in our own way, and the police moved away. Other police kindly directed all traffic away from the base (I must confess, though, undoubtedly be to the rear entrance), and we kept the main entrance closed for over half an hour.

Afterwards the Public Safety Response Team (the scary ones –well, not really- in dark blue overalls) moved in and arrested us, placing the men in a police van, and Christel in a police car.

From there it was a 20 minute journey to the watch house and a four hour wait with intermittent short processing duties, like removing your shoes (two folks actually had them!), and cutting off crosses from around necks, fingerprinting, photographing and health details gathering. Some police (well, one anyhow) were friendly, chatting and offering advice. Christel was her usual chirpy self even singing loudly in her cell. I stayed quiet. Culley was gently berated by the huge watch house Sergeant, for doing the wrong thing, Andy provided great amusement as police searched his dreads, and with his very honest answers to questions such as “employment?”- ‘I’m a bum’ “How do you eat?” –‘Oh there’s plenty of free food around.’ I wish I had your life was one police response. Sean was happy to discuss the real issues but not keen to give any information more than name rank and serial number. Andy was also given an extra charge relating to his antiwar actions in Rocky way back in July. When he had been arrested for being on Shoalwater Bay base they found a camera memory card on him with photos of the road and vehicles. Apparently it is a crime to possess such photos, not only if your name is Bradley Manning.

At 9pm we got back our shoes, crosses, and bits of paper with court dates. We also got directions on how to follow the yellow lines to the exit door and freedom. We walked the few kms back to West End to have a few laughs and beers, before heading to our homes (or squats!) to bed.

War is Futile!

Resistance is Fertile!

Say NO to War! Join the resistance!

Peace, Jim 8th October 2011

Jim


Corvallis vigil: 10 years in the trenches

10.10.2011 10:20

Corvallis vigil: 10 years in the trenches


Every day since the start of the Afghan War, a dedicated group of Corvallis protesters have waged the battle for peace

Almost every day at 4:50 p.m., Ed Epley fires up his 1961 Volkswagen microbus and heads downtown for his standing 5 o'clock appointment.

Epley is a regular member of the daily peace vigil outside the Benton County Courthouse, and he

doesn't want to be late. He knows the others are counting on him to pull up to the curb in his ancient VW, the back piled high with protest signs.

"That's not what I intended the bus's last days to be," Epley admitted. "But that's pretty much all I use it for is to store the signs."

It's probably not how he envisioned spending his retirement, either. But for the 74-year-old Epley and a dozen or so other dedicated regulars, the vigil has been an integral part of their lives for the past 10 years.

Not all of them make it to every protest. Some days, there might be as few as two or three people to hold down the fort. But there's always someone there to carry a placard, flash the peace sign and wave to passing drivers.

Every single day.

The way Epley sees it, people of conscience have to stand up for what they believe is right.

"It's part of the responsibility, I think, of citizens."

3,655 days and counting

The protest began on Oct. 7, 2001, the day the United States started bombing Afghanistan in the opening salvo of the war on terror. More than 50 local peace activists gathered on the sidewalk in front of the courthouse, the city's most conspicuous government building, to express their disapproval.

For an hour - from 5 to 6 p.m. - they held their ground, brandishing their protest signs as the evening commuter traffic streamed past on Northwest Fourth Street. Then they packed up their placards and went home.

Some of them came back the next day to do it again. And every day since then - 3,655 and counting - the vigil has been held to mark what has now become the longest-running war in U.S. history.

They've endured the taunts of angry motorists and survived a series of counterdemonstrations staged across the street to "support the troops."

They've outlasted the administration of George W. Bush, the president who launched the war, and the Taliban regime he sent troops to Afghanistan to overthrow.

They've witnessed the execution of Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi strongman toppled in a second U.S.-led war, and the killing of Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who ordered the 9/11 strikes.

Along the way, the Corvallis protest appears to have become the longest-running daily anti-war observance in the country.

"They've probably got it hands down, as far as I know. I don't know any other daily vigil in the country that's been going on this long," said Peter Bergel, executive director of the Portland-based Oregon PeaceWorks.

"It's a remarkable testament to the tenacity and commitment of the folks who organize it."

ARTICLE CONITNED................
 http://democratherald.com/news/local/article_6bee7541-e....html

Ten Years - still on the streets against this war!