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... For might makes right,
And till they've seen the light,
They've got to be protected,
All their rights respected,
Till somebody we like can be elected.
Members of the corps,
All hate the thought of war,
They'd rather kill them off by peaceful means.
Stop calling it aggression,
We hate that expression.
We only want the world to know
That we support the status quo.
They love us ev'rywhere we go,
So when in doubt -
Send the Marines!
Tom Lehrer, 1965
Behind Closed Doors: Military influence, commercial pressures and the compromised university
Behind Closed Doors: Military influence, commercial pressures and the compromised university, launched on 12th June 2008 is the result of an in-depth investigation into 16 of Britain's universities, including some of the most prestigious. The Report uses new data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, and builds upon the material assembled in the two previous studies of military involvement in UK universities. We estimate that the average level of military funding of UK universities is up to five times higher than government figures suggest. The report also reveals the pervasive extent of the military influence in UK universities, which raises significant disquiet among some university staff to whom we spoke about the growing presence of military and commercial influences on campus and their effect on the research agenda. The report highlights how, since 2002, new military research groups have sprung up in universities, supported by publicly-funded research councils, military corporations and the Ministry of Defence. The growth in the number of such groups has been accelerated by the UK 2006 Defence Technology Strategy.
A brilliant, minutely-documented account of how Israel acquired nuclear
weapons, on the Palestine Chronicle website. It ends with a petition
for a nucelar-free Middle East. Do sign it.
A little known aspect of the tragedy engulfing Iraq is the systematic
liquidation of the country's academics. Even according to conservative
estimates, over 250 educators have been assassinated, and many hundreds
more have disappeared. With thousands fleeing the country in fear for
their lives, not only is Iraq undergoing a major brain drain, the
secular middle class - which has refused to be co-opted by the US
occupation - is being decimated, with far-reaching consequences for the
future of Iraq.
Already on July 14, 2004, veteran correspondent Robert Fisk reported
from Iraq that: /"University staff suspect that there is a campaign to
strip Iraq of its academics, to complete the destruction of Iraq's
cultural identity which began when the American army entered Baghdad."
This is "A Dossier of Civilian Casualties in Iraq 2003-2005". You can read
a summary and download the entire document
HERE.
The dossier represents the results of two and a half year's of very
intensive unpaid work by members of the Iraq Body Count project, founded by
Hamit Dardagan and John Sloboda. The other authors of the report are Kay
Williams and Peter Bagnall. These four, along with a team of over a dozen scrutineers,
have devoted several tens of thousands of hours to the painstaking
accumulation and analysis of press and media reports detailing civilian
deaths in Iraq.
"We are all complicit in torture"
Very strong stuff, and not for the squeamish. Robert Fisk at his angriest and
best.
Fourteen Muslim students from Birmingham University believe they are victims
of religious discrimination after their elected to a student body was overturned.
Read all about it, and support the campaign, on the BLINK website:
BUSTW has its own e-mail lists to keep members and supporters informed of
local campaigns and activities. There are two lists, both maintained by
Sue Blackwell:
bustw-list
bustw-list is an information and discussion list. Any member can post items to
it. All postings which are consistent with the 3 aims of the Stop the War
Coalition are welcome. These aims are to (1) stop the war, (2) fight racism and
(3) defend civil liberties (particularly, in our case, academic freedom).
Members often post hot-off-the-press news items and suggestions for local
activities. The list can be high-volume at times: expect 1-5 messages a day
on average.
If you would like to join, simply send the message "subscribe bustw-list"
to: majordomo@bham.ac.uk.
bustw-announce
bustw-announce is an announcements-only list. Any member can post items to it
but they will be moderated by Sue. Only local announcements relevant to the
3 aims of the STWC (see above) will be accepted, i.e. not news or
discussion items or announcements of events outside the Midlands (apart from
national demonstrations). The list is consequently suitable for members who
want to be kept in touch but don't want a lot of e-mails. Expect 1-6 messages a
week on average, though it can be higher if there is a lot happening.
If you would like to join, simply send the message "subscribe bustw-announce"
to: majordomo@bham.ac.uk.
Please note: if you are a member of bustw-list you do not
need to join bustw-announce as well, since everything posted to bustw-announce
will be copied to bustw-list, but not vice-versa.
Eviction of Brian Haw imminent
Brian Haw has been protesting against UK and US government policy towards Iraq
since 1 June 2001 - right opposite the Houses of Parliament. This has upset
Tony and his cronies so much that they are now proposting to change the law
in order to evict Brian!
There is now a formal move to impeach Tony Blair, on the grounds that
he misled Parliament. MPs from the Scottish Nationalists, Plaid Cymru,
Liberal Democrats and the Tories have joined the call.
It was only a matter of when, not if. As soon as the Government announced
that it was issuing advice to the general public on what to do in a terrorist
attack, it was a foregone conclusion that someone would spoof it.
Enjoy this site before HM Government takes it - and perhaps its author -
away.
Here is an article written by Brian Doherty and John Sloboda of Keele
University, reporting some research and analysis on the state of the anti-war
movement, based on surveys of people who attended the big February 15th
anti-war demonstrations in 2003.
It is entitled 'The Human Face of Political Dissent: what we know
about the anti-war marchers of February 2003".
The paper is written specifically as a resource for activists
(including academic activists) and NGOs, rather than with the RAE in
mind. The authors invite activists to reproduce and circulate it wherever
they feel it is useful.
Sign the Petition to get to the whole truth about Gulf War Syndrome
The Inquiry begins on the 12th July 2004. We are told that most of the sessions
will be for 'medical experts'. There are only two sessions planned to hear
evidence from Gulf war veterans. How can that be enough to get to the truth?
The Petition is organised by Payday, working with the Global Women's Strike.
Factsheet on the bogus "handover"
This Factsheet, by Iraq Occupation Focus, exposes the realities of the
continuing occupation. It is two sides of A4, accessibly written and well
designed, and can be used in street stalls, workplaces, colleges, etc.
Absolutely shocking pictures - of American torture and sexual humiliation, only some of which
have appeared in the British press to date. This site also comtains
some of the script of a CBS "60 minutes" broadcast in which the
pictures were shown.
Uncensored version These pictures are not for the squeamish, so please only open them
if you have a strong stomach. Also please note that this site appears
to be a pro-Saddam one which neither Sue nor BUSTW endorses,
of course, but that does not detract from the seriousness of
what is shown in these images.
To download the full Hutton report - aka "whitewash", click
here.
This image was made into placards taken down on the coaches which BUSTW sent to
the anti-Bush demo - it got a mention in the Times, no less, as well as
Socialist Worker. Well folks, the latest gossip is that Bush liked it so much
here last time that he's coming back, probably in January or February 2005 in
time to help Blair with his election campaign. So we may be able to use this
work of art again!
Michael Meacher, Labour MP & former environment minister summarises evidence
that
the 9/11 attacks gave the US an ideal pretext to use force to secure its global
domination. Strong stuff!
This is an excellent article about the plight of the Guantanamo Bay detainees,
on the "Strike the Root" website.
FREE ULLA!
On March 10th, internationally renowned peace campaigner and grandmother, Ulla
Roder, broke into RAF Leuchars and disarmed a Tornado jet that was due to leave
to attack Iraq. Other Tornadoes from the UK were used to drop cluster bombs and
depleted uranium. After taking her peaceful action, she waited to be arrested
and
is now on remand at HMP Cornton Vale in Stirling.
Ulla, who is a Danish Trident Ploughshares activist, first became famous in 1999
when she was one of three women who disarmed a Trident related floating
laboratory at Loch Goil in Scotland, and was later acquitted on the grounds that
she acted to prevent a greater crime. More recently Ulla has been at the
forefront of the campaign to stop Star Wars, and she established a peace camp
outside Fylingdales air base in Yorkshire.
Ulla believes she has a strong moral and legal defence for her action. However,
were she to be found guilty of criminal damage to the Tornado, Ulla could be
imprisoned. Accordingly, Ulla needs your support NOW.
The newly formed "Free Ulla Campaign" is compiling a list of organisations who
agree that:
Our favourite supermarket, isn't it? Well it's a bit pricey, but they've got
best selection of organic veg, apart from the box delivery. And mm, the
bread! They're supposed to be owned by their workers as well, aren't they?
Like a co-op? That makes them really cool, right?
Wrong ! Did you know that they're ticket agents for the Fairford RIAT, the
huge arms dealers junket deep in the heart of rural Gloucestershire? Do
really want to buy your babyfood, your organic parsnips, your birthday cake,
your romantic dinner party ingredients, your loo rolls, from an outfit that
openly supports the war machine?
WHAT TO DO : Ring them up, write and COMPLAIN and if that doesn't work, go
somewhere else. And tell everyone you know to do the same.
USAF Fairford was the 'forward deployed' base for 14 B52 bomber planes which
dropped cluster bombs, cruise missiles and JDAMS on Iraq in March and April
of this year. The RIAT takes place on 15 - 20th July. It is expected to draw
200,000 arms dealers and military aviation experts into sleepy rural
Gloucestershire.
So, where ARE those Weapons of Mass destruction then??
Iraq may have destroyed its purported chemical and biological weapons before it
was invaded in March, the United States Defence Secretary, Donald Rumsfeld, has
said in an effort to explain why none has been found.
An internal email by Judith Miller, the New York Times's reporter on
bio-terrorism, acknowledges that her main source for such articles has been
Ahmad
Chalabi, an exile leader who is close to senior Pentagon officials.
... and this site, from the excellent Robert Fisk, has pictures of civilian
victims of the war on Iraq. Not for the squeamish - these are highly
distressing.
A moving account of how some Dutch socialists commemorated the anniversary
of
the 1941 February Strike against the Nazis with a call for united workers'
action
to stop weapons transports through the Netherlands. Includes an account of the
original 1941 "februaristaking".
Picasso's "Face of Peace" re-created on the Santa Monica Beach on 16th
Feb.
BUSTW members Protest at Jack Straw's visit - Friday
6th
September 2002
Photo by Stalingrad O'Neill
Reports of Previous Protests, with Picture Gallery!
Anti-War Demonstrations worldwide - Saturday 15th February 2003
Al-Jazeerah Website of the famous Arab TV service - news you won't find on CNN!
Alliance for Academic Freedom Formed to support the legal rights of a group of New Mexico teachers
who were punished for allowing student anti-war expression in their
classrooms and for posting anti-war signs during the war on Iraq.
Birmingham Students Against War - i.e. there are two sites for some reason, with different content. They
both have some photos of the School Students walkouts earlier this year.
Iraq Research and Documentation
Project The IRDP website, based at Harvard University, is a collection
of resources documenting the government, politics, and society of modern Iraq.
IRDP is engaged in the gathering of information of diverse content and format
(official government documents, maps, citizen testimonies, reference sources,
chronologies, bibliographies, notable articles, human rights reports,
photographic and other images, audio and video materials). This online
collection is made available to the public to provide a window into the inner
workings of the repressive state system evolved under the aegis of the Iraqi
Ba'th Socialist Party in Iraq since 1968.
LAAW - LEGAL ACTION AGAINST
WAR
LAAW is a voluntary organisation formed in February 2003 to initiate civil
and criminal legal proceedings against those individuals and institutions
in Britain that promote or conduct warfare, support military conflict or
perpetrate war crimes and crimes against humanity.
New Address:
Legal Action Against War (LAAW)
Mayfair House
14-18 Heddon Street
Mayfair
London W1B 4DA
London's Economy Today Ken Livingstone's economics report on the possible consequences of a Gulf
War
for London's economy. Scroll down to the Supplement on page 10.
Please note: this is in .pdf form, you'll need Adobe Acrobat Reader to open
it.
"A Manifesto for Peace and
Progress"
This is a call for the establishing of a new political party which will lift
sanctions on Iraq and pay the firefighters not the warmongers.
MoveOn Currently running a "Let the Inspections Work" petition
Wh
y
Another War? Middle East Research and Information Project (MERIP) "backgrounder" on the
Iraq Crisis (second edition). This file is in .pdf format - you will need Adobe
Acrobat Reader to open it.
NoWar TV (Italy) A satellite TV channel, established by a coalition of anti-war groups in
December 2002. It broadcasts footage from war fronts and news about
peace marches. Its website allows anyone to post self-made pictures and
footage,
through a number of internet points located all over the country. The site is
in
Italian, of course.
Peace Actions This website has been developed in order to inform people of peace actions
taking place in their area - please add yours to the database!
RAWA is "a political/social organization of Afghan women struggling
for peace, freedom, democracy and women's rights in fundamentalism-blighted
Afghanistan."
a different link for Reclaim
the
Bases
- for direct action and demos at RAF bases around the UK.
IMG
src="../../images/new1.gif"> Refusing to Kill - Now features excerpts from testimonies at the hearings of the Independent
Inquiry into Gulf War Illnesses, held in London between July and September 2004.
STOP USA A Belgian anti-war site, in Dutch and French.
Stuart Thompson's anti-war
site This is a wacky idiosyncratic site - some will love it, some may be offended
by some of the content ...
Student Stop the War Website This is the website of students in the Stop the War movement, which allows
them to actively participate in the national campaign through sharing ideas,
information and experiences.
- and if you can read Spanish, here's a Spanish school student anti-war site:
Sindicato de Estudiantes
IFOR is the International Fellowship of
Reconciliation.
The following resources on War and Peace in Iraq were compiled by the IFOR Secretariat in October 2002. Descriptions
and comments on the sites are by IFOR: sorry, I haven't had time to check them
all personally! - SAB.
Resource Collections
AlterNet.org -- Anti-War
Movement "Excellent site with a vast array of links and articles containing
numerous perspectives on the issue of war in Iraq; includes
discussion forum and other features, updated weekly."
Norbert's Bookmarks for a
Better
World "This web site is basically a link collection on peace and justice
issues, but including links to many sites about information and
action concerning war with Iraq. Produced in Germany, there are
versions of the site in German, English, French, Spanish, and
Swedish, each linking to informative web pages in those languages."
Utne Reader Online: Anti-War Room (Click on "The Anti-War Room".)
"Contains many articles, links, and resources on protesting war in
Iraq."
Statements and Actions By IFOR Members
Fellowship of Reconciliation-United States "The US FOR web page includes information about their Peace
Pledge campaign, action suggestions, sample letters, and
information about demonstrations."
Muslim Peace Fellowship "MPF is an IFOR Contact Group and one of the religious
fellowships affiliated with the US FOR. Their web page contains
links to the FOR page, but other articles as well which speak of
peace from a Muslim perspective."
Statements and Actions By Organizations
Action Forum "An interactive web site encouraging dialogue and information-sharing on
current issues."
Voices in the Wilderness "A campaign to end the economic sanctions against Iraq and
initiator of new Iraq Peace Team campaign."
Women Against Military Madness
(WAMM) "Lists suggestions on what you can do to help stop a war in Iraq and
reasons why such a war should be prevented."
The Iraq Journal.org New website launched to provide grassroots media information
directly from Iraq. Includes regularly updated print, audio, and
video reports.
The Khilafah "News and analysis from international Islamic sources on the war in
Iraq and other issues. Starts from a perspective that challenges
capitalism."
World War 3 Reports "Weekly compilations of short news summaries on the current
conflicts related to the ongoing US declared "war on terrorism"
include extensive coverage of information regarding war in Iraq.
The original source and web page for each item is noted for further
research."
The Anti-War Directory