The Stop the War Coalition is stepping up it’s activities in the wake of war in Georgia. David Miliband, who wants to be our next leader very badly, is pushing even harder for Georgia to be accepted into NATO. Stop the War points out that had Georgia already been a member then other NATO members would have been obliged to support Georgia. So we’re now looking down the barrel of a gun again. WELL DONE DAVID!!!
We can’t take comfort in a General Election sorting matters out, given that David Cameron has also waded into Georgia with an identical agenda. Al this in pursuit of the U.S. Neo Cons who push the idea of Armageddon, Christian Zionism and far right extremism which would be hard to match by any Muslim cleric.
The Stop the War current mailing is reproduced here because the irresponsibility and “hypocrisy” of our leading politicians is staggering:

STOP THE WAR COALITION
NEWSLETTER
No. 1054 20 August 2008
Email office@stopwar.org.uk
T: 020 7278 6694
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) A MESSAGE FROM TONY BENN
2) STOP THE WAR STATEMENT ON GEORGIA
3) AFGHANISTAN: ANOTHER DISASTER FOR NATO
4) THE STORY BURIED BY THE UK MEDIA
5) NO TO NATO: INTERNATIONAL DEMONSTRATION
*************************************
1) A MESSAGE FROM TONY BENN.
Tony Benn sends the following message urging people to join
the Stop the War demonstration at the Labour party
conference in Manchester on Saturday 20 September.
STOP THE SPREAD OF WAR
War in the Caucasus has highlighted the growing danger of
war spreading. Seven years after the start of the war on
terror, occupation continues to bring misery to Iraq and
Afghanistan, but the consequences of the war are spreading.
US policy of expanding NATO eastwards has been an important
feature of the conflict between Russia and Georgia, as has
the West’s desire to control the oil and other natural
resources of the region.
The British government continues its uncritical support for
George Bush, with foreign minister David Miliband echoing
Bush’s claim that invading other people’s countries is not
acceptable in the 21st century. Their hypocrisy is
staggering.
The war on terror has been a failure and the majority of
people in Britain want the British troops out of Iraq and
Afghanistan. Their view is matched by the majority of
citizens in Iraq and Afghanistan, where high levels of
violence, death, refugees and lack of basic facilities are
all part of everyday life for millions. Despite all this,
the US is stepping up its threats against Iran.
When he came to office, Gordon Brown promised to plan troop
withdrawal from Iraq. He has reneged on that promise. We are
demonstrating in Manchester to make clear we want to stop
war spreading and we want all the troops home now. We urge
you to join us. – TONY BENN.
DEMONSTRATE AT THE LABOUR PARTY CONFERENCE
SATURDAY 20 SEPTEMBER. ASSEMBLE 12.30PM
ALL SAINTS, CAVENDISH STREET, MANCHESTER M15
LEAFLETS
Leaflets for the demonstration are available from the Stop
the War office: Tel 020 7278 6694. Email
office@stopwar.org.uk
A copy of the leaflet can be downloaded from:
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/images/download.pdf
TRANSPORT:
Transport is being organised to the demonstration from
across the country. For details see
http://tinyurl.com/696px8 or call the Stop the War office:
020 7278 6694.
FOR DEMONSTRATION UPDATES GO TO:
http://www.stopwar.org.uk/
*************************************
2) STOP THE WAR STATEMENT ON GEORGIA
A report on the Stop the War meeting, GEORGIA, NATO & THE
SPREAD OF WAR, with videos of all the platform speakers is
now available online:
http://tinyurl.com/6p77y8
Stop the War has published a statement on the Georgia
crisis, highlighting “a new stage in the growth of
instability around the world, threatening confrontation
between the United States and the Russian Federation”. The
statement can be read here: http://tinyurl.com/6jxtww
*************************************
3) AFGHANISTAN: ANOTHER DISASTER FOR NATO
The deaths of ten French soldiers in one battle and growing
British and US casualties reveal the military reality behind
the rhetoric of George Bush’s ‘Operation Enduring Freedom’.
Despite Geoff Hoon’s recent claims that progress is being
made, resistance to the occupation is becoming bolder and
more effective. The French soldiers lost their lives in a 36
hour gun battle just 30 miles from the capital Kabul. Most
of the south and east of the country — which we were told a
few years ago had been ‘pacified’ — is now officially
recognised as being under rebel control.
NATO air strikes are causing so much bitterness at the
number of innocent civilians being killed that even
Afghanistan’s president Hamid Karzai — who was installed to
be the stooge of the US government — has publicly demanded
that the bombing stops. The violence created by occupation
is making an already dire situation desperate for the Afghan
people. Malnutrition is widespread and child mortality rates
and life expectancy are lower now than they were before the
so called ‘liberation’ of the country in 2001. Security has
deteriorated so badly that aid agencies and NGOs are having
to cancel sorely needed relief programmes.
According to Gordon Brown, “We are winning the battle in
Afghanistan”. In truth, as the Guardian’s Seamus Milne wrote
this week, “The war in Afghanistan, which claimed more than
6,500 lives last year, cannot be won. It has brought neither
peace, development nor freedom, and has no prospect of doing
so… The only real chance for peace in Afghanistan is the
withdrawal of foreign forces.” (See
http://tinyurl.com/6hgb5v)
This is the message we will be taking to Gordon Brown when
we demonstrate at the Labour Party conference in Manchester
on Saturday 20 September.
*************************************
4) THE STORY BURIED BY THE UK MEDIA
In a new book, American journalist Ron Suskind has
demolished any remaining shred of credibility for the attack
on Iraq in 2003. His book proves that both M16 and the CIA
knew there were no weapons of mass destruction before the
invasion and that both agencies made this clear to the Bush
administration. The media in Britain has largely ignored the
story, but you can see Suskind discussing his book on the US
Daily Show, available online here:
http://tinyurl.com/553g2n
*************************************
5) NO TO NATO: INTERNATIONAL DEMONSTRATION
The eastwards push of NATO is the prime cause of the recent
war in the Caucasus. UK foreign secretary David Miliband is
particularly keen to rush through Georgia’s membership of
NATO. This is despite many commentators pointing out that,
if Georgia had been a NATO member when its invasion of South
Ossetia provoked a Russian response, all the countries in
the alliance would have been obligated to go to war with
Russia — in other words, it could have led to World War
III.
Next year is the 60th anniversary of NATO’s formation and it
will be celebrated as an organisation founded to preserve
peace. In reality it is engaged in spreading conflict and
war well beyond the countries of the north Atlantic. Antiwar
and peace movements across Europe — including Stop the War
and the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament – are organising a
demonstration at NATO’s conference in Strasburg on 4-5 April
to call for an end to NATO expansion and the withdrawal of
all foreign troops from Afghanistan.
Further details of the NO TO NATO demonstration will be
available shortly. A briefing on NATO’s expansion by Kate
Hudson, the chair of CND, is available here:
http://tinyurl.com/5unyde