thought you'd want to know, if you don't already have details....
Pat
----- Original Message -----
From: "Patricia Fryd" <patriciafryd@...>
To: <patfryd@...>
Sent: Thursday, March 16, 2006 1:12 PM
Subject: FW: March 18: From London to Baghdad


>
>
>
> >From: office@...
> >To: stwc@...
> >Subject: March 18: From London to Baghdad
> >Date: Mon, 20 Feb 2006 15:56:01 -0800 (PST)
> >
> >STOP THE WAR COALITION NEWSLETTER
> >No 2006/3: February 12
> >National Office:
> >Email office@...
> >Telephone 020 7278 6694
> >
> >To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank e-mail to:
> >stwc-unsubscribe@...
> >
> >**************************************************
> >IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
> >1) MARCH 18: FROM LONDON TO BAGHDAD
> >2) MUSLIM COMMUNITY SUPPORTS 18 MARCH
> >3) THE MEDIA AND THE WAR
> >4) TONY BENN FINANCIAL APPEAL
> >5) ANOMALY? OR TANTAMOUNT TO TORTURE?
> >6) THE THINGS THEY SAY
> >7) DON'T THROW THOSE LEAFLETS AWAY
> >8) USEFUL LINKS
> >
> >**************************************************
> >1) MARCH 18: FROM LONDON TO BAGHDAD
> >Saturday 18 March will be a unique day of protest against the US / UK
> >occupation in Iraq. The protests already planned in over 40 towns and
> >cities across the world will be joined by mass demonstrations in Baghdad
> >and in Basra, all calling for "Troops Out of Iraq".
> >
> >The Iraqis marching in Baghdad and Basra will be uniting with protestors
in
> >Amsterdam, Ankara, Athens, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Boston, Copenhagen,
> >Denver, Dublin, Geneva, Helsinki, Istanbul, Jakarta, Karachi, Lisbon,
> >Ljubljana, London, Madrid, Managua, Manila, Melbourne, Memphis,
> >Minneapolis, Montreal, New York, Odense, Oklahoma, Ottawa, Seoul,
> >Stockholm, Sydney, Tarragona, Toronto, Vancouver, Vienna, Warsaw, and
many
> >other towns and cities. (To keep up to date with the list of
international
> >demonstrations, go to: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/march20/
> >
> >Across Britain, meetings, street stalls, film shows and other events are
> >being organised to help build support for the London demonstration. To
get
> >involved, contact your local Stop the Group (email the national office
for
> >contact details: office@...).
> >
> >Coaches to bring demonstrators to London are now being booked in most UK
> >areas, with new details being posted daily on the Stop the War website
at:
> >http://www.stopwar.org.uk/new/Transporttodemo.htm
> >If no coach is listed for your area, contact the Stop the War Office and
we
> >will put you in touch with your local group to find out transport
> >arrangements.
> >
> >Please spread the information about the demonstration as widely as you
can
> >among your family and friends, in your workplace and community. March 18
is
> >the third anniversary of the start of the war in Iraq, which has been
> >opposed consistently by the majority of British people, millions of whom
> >over the past four years have been actively involved in what is the
biggest
> >protest movement in British history.
> >
> >No one should be able to say after March 18 that they were not on the
> >demonstration because they did not know about it. Leaflets, posters,
> >stickers and badges publicising the demonstration are available from the
> >national office now. To order:
> >Email office@...
> >Telephone 020 7278 6694
> >
> >**************************************************
> >2) MUSLIM COMMUNITY SUPPORTS 18 MARCH
> >Close to 15,000 leaflets publicising the March 18 international day of
> >protest against the Iraq occupation and threat of war against Iran, were
> >distributed at the large anti-Islamophobia demonstrations held in London
> >over the past two weekends, with many of the demonstrators saying they
> >would be in London for the third anniversary of the attack on Iraq.
> >
> >Muslims came from all over Britain on February 11 and February 18 to
> >protest against the attacks on their religion and the racism which has
over
> >the past few weeks too often been promulgated under the disguise of
> >"freedom of speech", following the publication of offensive and racist
> >cartoons in a Danish newspaper.
> >
> >As Muslim protestors queued to take the March 18 leaflets, it was clear
> >that many of them understood that the attacks on their community were
also
> >being used to undermine the anti-war message, at a time when the news
from
> >Iraq and the details of torture and abuse perpetrated by the US and UK
> >armies have once again highlighted the scale of the war crimes that have
> >been - and continue to be - committed by the occupying forces.
> >
> >Many of the Muslims taking leaflets in Trafalgar Square said they wanted
> >details of coaches coming to London on 18 March. Local Stop the War
groups
> >should visit the mosques and Muslim community centres in their area with
> >transport details. All the signs were on Saturday that they will get a
very
> >appreciative response.
> >
> >NOTE ON POLICE MATHS SKILLS: As ever, there was a vast gap between the
> >police estimates of how many attended the Muslim demonstrations and the
> >assessments by the organisers. The police say 5000 demonstrated on
Saturday
> >11 February and 10,000 last Saturday. Since the Stop the War Coalition
> >distributed 15,000 leaflets in total, this would mean -- according to the
> >police figures - that every single demonstrator took one of our leaflets
> >-which even the most mathematically challenged police officer should be
> >able to see is a somewhat fanciful idea.
> >
> >**************************************************
> >3) PUBLIC MEETING: THE MEDIA AND THE WAR
> > TUESDAY 7 MARCH 7PM
> >
> >TITLE: The Media, Islamophobia and the War on Terror"
> >
> >SPEAKERS:
> >Jonathan Steele (The Guardian)
> >Mark Steel (The Independent)
> >Yvonne Ridley (The Islam Channel)
> >Sami Ramadani (London Metropolitan University)
> >Tim Lezard (President, National Union of Journalists)
> >
> >VENUE: Conway Hall, Red Lion Square WC1 (Holborn tube)
> >
> >**************************************************
> >4) TONY BENN FINANCIAL APPEAL
> >There has been an excellent response to the financial appeal by Tony
Benn,
> >the president of Stop the War Coalition, for donations to help us fund
the
> >March18 demonstration and to sustain our continuing campaign to build
> >opposition to the Bush / Blair plans to spread their warmongering into
Iran
> >and Syria. If you have already donated to our financial appeal, your much
> >needed support has helped us distribute 70,000 leaflets and 5,000 posters
> >in the last week alone. But we need to do much more to ensure we
publicise
> >the 18 March demonstration as widely as possible.
> >
> >Tony Blair hoped that the anti-war movement would run out of steam and
fade
> >from view. On March 18, the third anniversary of Blair's illegal war, he
> >will see that we have no intention of going away. If you have not yet
> >donated to Tony Benn's financial appeal and would like to make a
> >contribution now, choose one of the following methods to make your
> >contribution:
> >
> >a) Phone the Stop the War office for credit card payments: 020 72786694
> >b) Use Paypal online at
> >http://www.stopwar.org.uk/new/involved/joinonline.htm
> >c) Send a cheque made out to 'Stop the War Coalition'.
> >
> >**************************************************
> >5) ANOMALY? OR TANTAMOUNT TO TORTURE?
> >"The force-feeding happens in an abusive fashion as the tubes are rammed
up
> >their noses, then taken out again and rammed in again until they bleed.
For
> >a while tubes were used that were thicker than a finger, because the
> >smaller tubes did not provide the detainees with enough food. The tubes
> >caused the detainees to gag, and often they would vomit blood. The
> >force-feeding happens twice daily..."
> >
> >Tony Blair says this is an 'anomaly'.
> >
> >"There is evidence of interrogation techniques deliberately designed to
> >offend inmate's religious sensibilities, such as female officers
> >"lap-dancing" during interrogations. Menstrual blood is alleged to have
> >been smeared on detainees' faces to "bring home the futility of the
> >situation".
> >
> >Tony Blair says this is an 'anomaly'.
> >
> >Al-Qadasi was taken from Guantanamo to Yemen in secret in April 2004.He
> >stayed there for 13 months in solitary confinement in an underground
cell.
> >He was routinely beaten and received only rotten food and was prevented
> >from using the toilet. He was then temporarily transferred to Ta'iz
prison,
> >where he was also not provided food and had to rely on his family to feed
> >him. In June 2005 he was transferred back to Sana'a prison, where he is
> >still held without being aware of any charges."
> >
> >Tony Blair says this is an 'anomaly'.
> >
> >Un General Secretary Kofi Annan says, "Guantanamo Bay should close. It is
> >just flat wrong."
> >
> >The Archibishop Of York says, "To hold someone for up to four years
without
> >charge indicates a society heading towards George Orwell's Animal Farm."
> >
> >Bishop Desmond Tutu says, "It's horrendous."
> >
> >The International Red Cross says, "The Interrogation techniques are
> >tantamount to torture."
> >
> >Uk Government Minister Peter Hain says: "I would prefer Guatanamo was
> >closed, yes." Challenged on whether Mr Blair agreed with him, he said: "I
> >think so, yes."
> >
> >**************************************************
> >6) THE THINGS THEY SAY
> >"The international terrorist is not constrained by legality, by morality,
> >by any conventions, Geneva or otherwise." Who could UK Defence Minister
> >John Reid be talking about when he made this statement?
> >
> >Could it be George Bush and Tony Blair, who are guilty of a war of
> >unprovoked aggression, which is the supreme international crime, as
defined
> >by the Nuremburg Tribunal of 1945. The only two situations under which
the
> >United Nations Charter permits the use of armed force against another
state
> >is in self-defence, or when authorized by the UN Security Council. Iraq
had
> >not invaded the US, or any other country, Iraq did not constitute an
> >imminent threat to any country, and the Security Council never sanctioned
> >Bush and Blair's war. They are guilty of the crime of aggression.
> >
> >So much for legality. As for morality, perhaps John Reid was thinking of
> >US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who personally authorised the
> >abandonment of America's prohibition against torture or other cruel,
> >inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment and who advocated the use of
> >brutal and illegal interrogation techniques on detainees in US military
> >custody, which included the use of 'stress positions', 20-hour
> >interrogations, the removal of clothing, the use of dogs, isolation, and
> >sensory deprivation.
> >
> >As for lack of constraint, perhaps John Reid had in mind US Army's
decision
> >in November 2004 to turn the entire city of Fallujah, with more than
> >350,000 civilians, into "a free-fire-zone", killing between 4,000 and
6,000
> >civilians and employing illegal weapons, including cluster bombs,
depleted
> >uranium, and white phosphorous.
> >
> >As for breaking the Geneva conventions, perhaps John Reid was thinking of
> >US Attorney General Albert Gonzales, who called the Conventions "quaint"
> >and "obsolete" and initiated a report which stated that all interrogation
> >methods were permissible up to but not including "organ failure". We know
> >that for some of the US detainees who have been 'disappeared' into US
> >torture chambers in Abu Ghraib, Guantanamo, Bagram, Diego Garcia and
untold
> >secret destinations, interrogation has in fact concluded with "organ
> >failure" - in short, death.
> >
> >We await with interest John Reid's comments on how the "war on terror"
will
> >bring to account these international terrorists, who are responsible for
> >the deaths of over 100,000 Iraqis and who have initiated a regime of
> >worldwide lawlessness, encompassing widespread kidnapping and torture.
> >
> >**************************************************
> >7) DON'T THROW THOSE LEAFLETS AWAY
> >In 2002 the Working Class Movement Library (WCML) in Salford opened a
> >section on the then emerging Stop the War movement. The WCML is a unique
> >resource. It holds a range of sources that document the working class
> >movement in the UK over the last 200 years.
> >
> >Numerous documents, posters, placards, leaflets & photos etc from the
Stop
> >the War movement have already been deposited with the library and this
> >section continues to grow.
> >
> >It is important that our movement's continuing activities are recorded
and
> >documented. This is call to STW groups and activists. If you have any
> >national leaflets, posters, placards, newsletters, photos and videos,
> >CD-ROMS, DVDs of local, national, international demos, actions, meetings
or
> >events, please don't throw them away. Send them to:
> >
> >STOP THE WAR MOVEMENT ARCHIVE
> >WORKING CLASS MOVEMENT LIBRARY
> >51 THE CRESCENT
> >SALFORD M5 4WX
> >
> >EMAIL: enquiries@...
> >TELEPHONE: 0161 736 3601; Outside UK ++44 161 736 3601
> >WEBSITE: http://www.wcml.org.uk/
> >
> >If you have the time, please put a note on the item(s) you send,
> >documenting the group, event, author or designer, and the date/year of
> >production.
> >
> >**************************************************
> >8) USEFUL LINKS
> >
> >- STOP THE WAR
> >http://www.stopwar.org.uk/
> >- MILITARY FAMILIES AGAINST THE WAR:
> >http://www.mfaw.org.uk/
> >- INFORMATION CLEARING HOUSE: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/
> >- ZNET:
> >http://www.zmag.org/weluser.htm
> >- COUNTERPUNCH:
> >http://www.counterpunch.org/
> >- ANTIWAR:
> >http://www.antiwar.com/
> >- URUKNET.INFO
> >http://www.uruknet.info/?p=-6
> >- GLOBALECHO:
> >http://www.globalecho.org/
> >
> >--
> >To unsubscribe from this list, send a blank e-mail to
> >stwc-unsubscribe@...
>
>