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UK Anti-militarism Newswire Archive

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The Logic of Imperial Insanity and the Road to World War III plus many mirrors

16-01-2011 22:33

"Obama wasted no time in rapidly accelerating America’s imperial adventures. While dropping the term “War on Terror” from usage, the Pentagon adopted the term, “overseas contingency operations.”[4] This was to be the typical strategy of the Obama administration: change the appearance, not the substance. The name was changed, but the “War on Terror” remained, and not only that, it was rapidly accelerated to a level that would not have been possible if undertaken by the previous administration.

The current expansion of American imperialism globally has been rapidly accelerated since Obama became President, and seems intent on starting and expanding wars all over the world. When Obama became President, America and its Western allies were engaged in a number of wars, occupations and covert destabilizations, from Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, to the Congo, and Obama took office in the midst of Israel’s brutal assault against Gaza. From the beginning of his presidency, Obama immediately justified Israel’s vicious attack against innocent Palestinians, rapidly accelerated the war and occupation of Afghanistan, expanded the war into Pakistan, started a new war in Yemen, and supported a military coup in Honduras, which removed a popular democratic government in favour of a brutal dictatorship. Obama’s administration has expanded covert special operations throughout the Middle East, Central Asia and the Horn of Africa, and is paving the way for a war against Iran.[5] In fact, the Obama administration has expanded Special Operations forces into 75 countries around the world (compared with a height of 60 during the Bush regime). Among the many countries with expanded operations are Yemen, Colombia, the Philippines, Somalia, Pakistan, among many others.[6] Further, in recent months, the Obama administration has been saber rattling with North Korea, potentially starting a war on the Korean Peninsula. With the creation of the Pentagon’s Africa Command (AFRICOM), American foreign policy on the continent has become increasingly militarized."

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Tunisia: 23 years of autocratic rule

16-01-2011 14:28

routed Bin Ali and ABBAS
GAZA - Fatah, PLO backtrack on statement praising popular revolution in Tunisia ..... The Fatah-controlled Palestinian liberation organization (PLO) attempted to disavow earlier remarks in which it welcomed the overthrow of the Tunisian president after it issued a statement in this regard. Senior Fatah and PLO official Ahmed Abdelrahman said the PLO's executive committee did not issue any statement about the situation in Tunisia and did not hold any meeting during the last two days.

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Wrexham marks Gulf War anniversary

16-01-2011 09:31

flyer
The first bombing raid of the Gulf War was launched on Iraq 20 years ago. In Wrexham, members of Wrexham Peace & Justice Forum and supporters organised a stall in the town centre on Saturday with a display of information about the effects of war and sanctions on Iraqi children over the last 20 years.

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Cut The War Not The Poor - Picket Of The Banks

15-01-2011 16:40

Saturday 22nd January – Rolling Picket of High Street Investors In the Arms Trade

Meeting Point 1pm. The Band Stand, Castle Park, Bristol, BS1

“UK high street banks have come under fire
for their role in causing the economic meltdown.
But the lack of regulation which led to the current
crisis is also behind an even deadlier scandal.”

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Obama Capitulates Again

15-01-2011 13:45

"Several liberal media commentaries deliberately disguised the political significance of Obama’s speech, which was an abject surrender to the arrogant demands of the ultra-right that there should be no accountability for the Tucson events.
E. J. Dionne of the Washington Post claimed that Obama “pointedly took no sides on the controversy over the role of vitriolic politics in the tragedy.” This is flatly untrue, and the columnist knows it. Obama provided an amnesty for the right and effectively repudiated his own liberal supporters."

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Britain's war on Islam

14-01-2011 21:23

Daily Mail, 28 December 2010
Western vilification of Islam is longstanding, cruel, and unjustifiable. Notably post-911, they've viciously targeted Muslims for political advantage. Throughout America, continental Europe and Britain it rages, harming innocent men and women. With no regard for democratic values and justice, they're bogusly charged and imprisoned for crimes they neither planned or committed. Yet supportive media reports convict by accusation, the public unaware that supposed threats were lies, yet it repeats endlessly.

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Protesters Tell New York Business to Stop Providing Israel’s Lethal Tear Gas

14-01-2011 04:29

New York, NY, January 11 – Thirty-five protesters gathered during the lunch hour today outside the midtown Manhattan offices of Point Lookout Capital Partners, a New York firm that facilitates investment in Combined Systems Inc. (CSI). CSI, based in Pennsylvania, sells tear gas to the Israeli army that the Israeli army has then used to kill and seriously injure a number of unarmed protesters in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including on January 1, 36-year-old Jawaher Abu Rahmah from the village of Bil’in.

Dave Lippman from Adalah-NY explained, “The Israeli military is using tear gas manufactured by CSI and financed through Point Lookout Capital as a weapon to crush the growing unarmed protest movement against Israel’s illegal confiscation of Palestinian land for Israeli settlements. We as US taxpayers are paying for some of the tear gas that Israel is shooting at Palestinian, Israeli and American protesters. The US government needs to stop providing this deadly aid, and CSI and Point Lookout need to end their complicity in Israel’s violent repression of legitimate protest.”

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US Government Spy Infiltrated Antiwar Groups Before FBI Raids

13-01-2011 21:56

There are major new developments in the case of the peace activists targeted by FBI raids last September. Lawyers for the activists in Minnesota and St. Paul have learned a government agent infiltrated their group and conducted extensive spying. Going by the name "Karen Sullivan," the agent began attending organizing meetings of the Twin Cities Anti-War Committee in the lead-up to the Republican National Convention. Sullivan then took an active role in the group, chairing meetings, handling bookkeeping, and communicating with dozens of other organizations. Anti-War Committee activist Jess Sundin spoke to Democracy Now! on Wednesday.

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Danish arms-trafficking ship hijacked by pirates

13-01-2011 12:44

The Danish arms-trafficking ship "Leopard" has been hijacked by pirates.

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Barclays cash machine sabotaged in Solidarity with the victims of EDO/ITT

13-01-2011 12:44

Barclay Capital is the market maker for ITT Corporation on the New York Stock Exchange - see  http://www.nyse.com/about/listed/lcddata.html?ticker=itt

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ENTSICHERN CONGRESS in Berlin, 29-30 January 2011

12-01-2011 21:13

Analyse, criticise, dismantle EU!

A considerable part of all legislative and political decisions are currently made via the European Union. Expected resistance in the 27 member states is thwarted by this ”policy laundering” while the financially strongest governments furthermore dominate the course. At the same time the EU enlarge its powers through its own structures which coordinate cross-border activities as well as advance projects under its own direction.

This policy is especially noticeable in the area of European ”homeland defence” and its securitization, militarisation and gendarmerisation of social phenomenons. There is, however, no increased attention which accompanies the development of the EU by now, for example by the social movements. The radical Left, as well, which is normally never short of criticism of the state, remains speechless.

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End the recruitment of child soldiers to the British Army.

12-01-2011 13:11


Since the start of the war in Afghanistan, 24 per cent of British fatalities have been aged 21 or younger. Many of them will have been young men who enlisted as teenagers.

There are additional ongoing concerns regarding the mental health of young soldiers. Data published in March 2010 highlighted that male army recruits aged under 20 years old had a suicide rate 50 per cent higher than equivalent males in the general population.

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9 years of Guantánamo - Beyond Words: Silent Witness to Injustice

11-01-2011 23:17

Trafalgar Square silent vigil (D. Viesnik)
Tuesday 11th January, 2011 - Silent lunchtime vigil outside the National Gallery in London's Trafalgar Square to mark the 9th anniversary of the opening of the US military torture camp at Guantánamo Bay. At least 50 people took part in the hour-long vigil. There was a strong media presence, with a lot of photographers and videographers, and some reporters (e.g. Al Jazeera).

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US government demands Twitter account information of WikiLeaks and followers and

11-01-2011 14:00

"Citing the Pentagon Papers case, the CRS report warns that an attempt to stage a prosecution for the WikiLeaks disclosures would raise questions over “government censorship” and US attempts to exercise “extraterritorial jurisdiction.”

If the law were properly applied, a prosecution of WikiLeaks and Assange would not even be brought. However, given the sharp shift to the right by the US high court, along with the rest of the political establishment, there is every reason to believe that a government attempt to railroad Assange on espionage charges will proceed in earnest."

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Smash EDO Noise Demo this Wednesday

11-01-2011 10:45

Smashing events...

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US government demands Twitter account information of WikiLeaks and followers

10-01-2011 17:40

“Ms. Jonsdottir denounced the subpoena in a telephone interview with the WSWS on Sunday. “There is no criminal case against me because I have done nothing in violation of any law,” she stated.
“The US government is trying to criminalize whistleblowing and publication of whistleblowing,” Jonsdottir added. “They want to make it tantamount to spying, and if they succeed in doing that, journalists could be prosecuted just for doing their jobs.”
Jonsdottir and Gonggrijp, together with Julian Assange, are listed as the producers of the Collateral Murder video released in April, which shows the slaughter of unarmed people, including two Reuters journalists, by a US helicopter gunship in 2007.
In addition to the information on WikiLeaks and its collaborators, the subpoena also demands “non-content information associated with the contents of any communications … stored by or for the accounts(s), such as destination email addresses.” If Twitter posts are interpreted as messages, that means that Twitter will be obliged to turn over the names of all of WikiLeaks’ followers.”

“The subpoena ordered Twitter not to disclose that it had been served with the subpoena.”

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Smash EDO benefit Friday 14th of January

10-01-2011 11:34

14th January, 7pm at The Cowley Club, London Rd. Featuring Kiyomori, Sak-Less Jack, Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Ollie Barron and 7 Day Conspiracy. Live bands till midnight followed by DJs till close.

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'Nonviolence Works' Exhibition, Wrexham

09-01-2011 00:18

nonviolence works

From 8 January and for the next two weeks, there's an exhibition called 'Nonviolence Works' at St Mary's Cathedral on Regent Street, Wrexham, open every day between 8.30am and 5pm until 22 January.

Members of Wrexham Peace & Justice Forum called in on the opening day to have a look.

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A new fighting force for animals launched

07-01-2011 22:02

A new fighting force for animals has been launched in West Sussex.