Wales Terror War Newswire Archive

The Armed Forces Day 'family fun' extravaganza in Colwyn Bay's Parc Eirias went ahead on Saturday in intermittent drizzle and behind a prominent banner near the main gate stating what you'd have thought would be bleedin' obvious, but apparently to many punters wasn't: 'WAR IS NOT FAMILY ENTERTAINMENT'. As you'd expect of any attempt to disguise the brutal reality of war as fun and games, the event was at best conflicted and contradictory, at worst downright dishonest. With the stated aim of "recognising and honouring our armed forces and veterans" AFD is designed to leave no space open to question the legality or morality of the wars they've been off fighting in recent years, to ask whether warfare offers any real solutions for the problems we face, nor indeed to consider whether our various wars of aggression might conceivably be an aggravating factor in these problems.

In the end it was down to a handful of protesters to pitch up and create this space, right by the main entrance, and to break the illusion that everything in the military garden is rosy.

This event was held a week before official Armed Forces Day on 27 June. There's time to organise a presence at an AFD event in your area and it's well worth doing, however small. Even one person standing vigil at the gate can have a big impact.

Yesterday, seven people gathered at short notice from 4.30pm on a busy route close to the centre of Wrexham and outside the office of Labour MP and Shadow Minister for the Middle East, Ian Lucas, to protest government plans (supported by Labour) to join the US-led coalition that's bombing Iraq again.

See also this previous article.

A day of action in solidarity with Welsh-American whistleblower Chelsea Manning was held on Tuesday 12 August as the Long March on Newport stopped off in Haverfordwest, Pembrokeshire where Manning attended the local Tasker Milward school as a teenager and has many family connections. On Wednesday 13 August the march passed Brawdy military base where Manning's father, then a US Navy intelligence analyst, was stationed in the 1970s.

The march is one of many protests against the NATO Summit which will be held in Newport on 4 & 5 September. A week of action, workshops and a counter-summit are planned in Newport and Cardiff from 30 August. See Stop NATO Cymru, No NATO Newport and this feature for more details. Many of the documents released by Manning, for which courageous act she is now serving 35 years in a military jail, expose NATO's wars and corruption.

The second Gaza solidarity action in Wrexham this week was held outside Barclays Bank today to protest Barclays' investments in the arms trade and in Israel. See also this Indymedia report and photos from last Thursday. Barclays is the single largest global investor in the arms trade and the only high street bank with significant direct investments in Israeli companies. Based on the breadth of Barclays arms investments, it seems safe to assume that Barclays makes a financial profit for every death in Gaza. On that basis, we stood at the entrance to the bank and read out the entire list of names published by Al Jazeera of those killed by Israel in the Gaza strip since July 7th, adding after each one: "Barclays Bank profited from this death."

As Israel continues to shower death and destruction on the oppressed Palestinians in occupied Gaza, it's hard to know what to do, how to resist. My inbox is full of forwarded Stop the War Coalition emails advertising their disingenuously entitled Gaza Emergency Appeal, highlighted in red 'emergency' lettering at the top of their website. Clicking through reveals that the emergency in the StWC camp is funding their own activities and keeping their London office staffed.

Protesting at the Israeli Embassy is a great idea if you live within striking distance or feel motivated to make the journey, with or without the help of Stop the War's 'Gaza Emergency' fund. If not, how about something closer to home? Every High Street has a Barclays...

After a fortnight of fruitless communication with Wrexham County Borough Council over its support for and promotion of an event that we knew would be used by military recruiters to target young children, a small group gathered on Llwyn Isaf on Saturday with a 'Peace Presence' at Armed Forces Day.

North Wales Armed Forces Day is this year being held in Wrexham. We are being asked to 'celebrate' and 'thank' our Armed Forces without any critical analysis of the recent conflicts they have been involved in. The event will be used by the military as a recruitment exercise, and much of this will be aimed at children.

Over 100 people have signed an open letter to Wrexham County Borough Council protesting its promotion, sponsorship and funding of this event and the use of a picture of a toddler in military gear to advertise it. The council has yet to respond.

Responsible for probably the most significant information leak in military history, Chelsea (formerly Bradley) Manning was sentenced in August 2013 to 35 years in a US military jail.

The Private Manning Family Fund was set up to support Manning's Welsh-Irish family with the cost of prison visits to Leavenworth, Kansas. The family has previously self-funded four trips to the US but this time all flights were paid for by PMFF. We feel this is one practical way we can show our solidarity with Manning here in Wales, Ireland, Scotland and England.

Last week, Manning was awarded in absentia the Sam Adams Prize for Integrity in Intelligence at the Oxford Union. Report here. Photos in this article are mainly from this event and solidarity on the streets of Oxford beforehand.

Join Chelsea Manning’s Irish supporters along with her family and friends in west Wales for two days of events celebrating Truth. All proceeds will go to the Private Manning Family Fund, raising money to support family members in Wales with the cost of prison visits to Chelsea in Kansas.

The last few days in Dublin unfolded in a warm embrace of solidarity for imprisoned Pvt. Manning’s mother Susan, aunts Mary & Sharon & uncle Kevin. The family had travelled from their hometown Haverfordwest, south-west Wales to Dublin, Ireland, the birthplace of their father.

We've been in Dublin since Wednesday with Welsh members of Chelsea Manning's family, enjoying warm and enthusiastic Irish hospitality from AFRI and many others during three days of solidarity events, meetings, meals and media interviews. There are Irish connections on both sides of Chelsea's family: maternal grandfather from Rathmines, Dublin and one set of paternal great grandparents (both Mannings) from a village in Cork. Chelsea was flown out to Iraq via Shannon airport, the use of which by the US military compromises Ireland's supposed neutrality. There will be more to report back later, but for now here are a few photos from the visit and some links to other reports and news items.