Iraq: From the sharp end
One hundred supporters of the Leeds Stop the War Coalition heard speakers from the US front line against the occupation of Iraq. Lou Plummer of Military Families Speak Out, Veterans for Peace and Bring Them Home Now and Michael Hoffman of Iraq Veterans Against The War supported by Andrew Murray, the Chair of the National Stop The War Coalition received a warm reception at Leeds Civic Hall.
The report below is from Alistair B's account in the Leeds Stop the War Newsletter.
Lou Plummer lives near US Green Berets base in North Carolina. His father served in Vietnam, he served in the Army and his son (in the Navy) is now speaking out publicly against the war:
Over half of US military forces are under 22 years old. The postal service has been privatised and so packages to the troops now take 6-8 weeks to arrive. Kerry planned to keep troops deployed for 4 more years and would have sent even more. Depleted uranium is being used, poisoning people. US action is creating groups of people across the Middle East who will hate the USA for generations to come.
Michael Hoffman served in Iraq in 2003. Since November 2003 he has been speaking out against the war:
The war is not about weapons of mass destruction or democracy - it is about oil. You don't know who your enemy is, so everyone becomes your enemy and everyone becomes a target. Iraqis become dehumanised in US troops' minds. Twice as many US Vietnam veterans have committed suicide since that war than were killed in combat - ex-soldiers find that the things they have done in war are impossible to reconcile with the standards expected in civil society. Troops at road blocks in Iraq were not taught the correct hand signals to stop traffic there - and then they ended up shooting Iraqis who failed to stop. Soldiers enlist to defend their country but they have been sent for a war for oil, Halliburton, Boeing, McDonnell Douglas etc. We need to bring the troops home but also to carry on the campaign afterwards, so that there are no more wars.
For more information:
In London the Iraq Occupation Focus organised of successful conference of 250 in London to hear Lou and Mike speak. More information here.
Iraq: How the troops are rewarded
The above two US speakers outlined the recruitment tactics of the US military. They recruit predominately from areas where military families are strong or from poor neighbourhoods. One strong selling point is that after completing a tour of duty they will be financed through college. However this is done by deducting $100 a month from their wages. In the end fewer than 40% end up in college.
Some of them end up on the streets. The US National Coalition for Homeless Veterans says they are already dealing with ex-soldiers who served in Iraq. It has been estimated that nearly 300,000 veterans from as early as the Vietnam War are homeless on any given night.
The US Department of Veterans Affairs data shows that 28,000 veterans from Iraq have already sought help. 20% have been diagnosed as having a mental disorder.
Iraq: US troops start to refuse orders
Unlike the troops sent to Vietnam the US army in Iraq consists of professional soldiers. They signed up to fight. However even these are beginning to rebel. 23 soldiers from the Tallil Air Base, north of Baghdad, have been disciplined for refusing to go out on a transport convoy. However with the growing opposition among the soldiers to the occupation the military pulled back from a court martial and issued them with relatively minor punishments.
Iraq: History repeats itself
In 2004BC the cities of what is now Iraq were ravaged by the armies of Elam and Sua. The full, ghastly 4008-year-old account is here, and here's a sample:
In the city, those who had not been felled by weapons succumbed to hunger.
Hunger filled the city like water, it would not cease.
This hunger contorted people's faces, twisted their muscles.
Its people were as if drowning in a pond, they gasped for breath.
Its king breathed heavily in his palace, all alone.
Its people dropped their weapons, their weapons hit the ground.
They struck their necks with their hands and cried.
They sought counsel with each other, they searched for clarification:
"Alas, what can we say about it?
What more can we add to it?
How long until we are finished off by this catastrophe?
Inside Urim there is death, outside it there is death.
Inside it we are to be finished off by famine.
Outside it we are to be finished off by Elamite weapons.
In Urim the enemy oppresses us, oh, we are finished.
2004BC Sua ....... 2004AD USA
Plus ca change, eh?
Iraq: CIA workers begin to tell the truth
A CIA classified cable has been widely leaked to the press. It describes a deteriorating situation in Iraq. It warns unless there are immediate improvements by the Iraqi puppet government the situation will continue to get worse. Seeing the cable was sent after the so called "victory" of Falluja it makes grim reading.
Iraq: The most expensive taxi drive in the world
It costs over £2,500 to take an armoured car with western armed escorts from Baghdad airport to the city centre. You travel at speeds of up to 100 mph. This is because of numerous attacks on travellors. Sometimes however your plane won't even get into the airport because of mortar attacks.
The airport is supposed to be most secure place in Iraq and is where Saddam Hussain is being held prisoner.
Of course you can get expensive taxi drives in London, if you try. One public body has been rumoured to have run up a £500 bill for only ten miles. I am investigating this further.
Iraq: Death toll
Blair has rejected calls from over 40 prominent people calling for an investigation into the claim in the Lancet that 100,000 Iraqis had died as a result of the illegal occupation. Blair said there was no need for an inquiry because the Iraqi puppet government already published figures which showed a much lower death toll.
This was the same government that said there were no civilians in Falluja during the US bombing of the town. The US has still not let any independent observers into the town. They claim it is too dangerous because of rabid dogs.
The fast guide to recycling...
...is here.
Above the law
The US government is threatening to withhold foreign aid from countries if they refuse to shield Americans from prosecution at the UN permanent war crimes tribunal. Jordon stands to lose over $250 million for schools, hospitals and water projects.
The countries concerned see the war crimes tribunal as an important weapon in the war on terrorism. The Bush government, a major exporter of terror with its troops in 113 countries, obviously disagrees.
Winter Green Fair
Over 200 people visited the Leeds Green Fair. The dozen stalls did great business. The event was opened by John Davies who plays Les Hunter in soap Hollyoaks. The fair raised £500 for the Alliance for Green Socialism's national election campaign. It was also the first outing for their brand new tea urn.
Other left organisations have printing presses but the AGS knows the importance of the tea urn.
The Alliance for Green Socialism
The last few months have been quite exciting for the AGS. New branches have been set up in Brighton and Hampshire. They have taken steps to set a branch up in Sheffield and they have a new affiliate from Rugby.
In Leeds, one of their strongest areas, they have had a series of successful meetings, including Keith Nathan on Real Pensions, Mark Smith on the successful campaign against the Reg Vardy School at Consibrough and John Chillag on the Holocaust.
One key meeting on the Dangers of Microbiological Warfare has had to be put back to Saturday 5th February. It forms the centre point of a Spring Programme that hopefully will include John Tilbury on Music and Politics and Professor Ted Benton on Marxism and the Environment.
Rather sadly this puts the Leeds SWP in the shade, despite their leadership urging them to make "the SWP monthly public meeting to be the only show in town".
Leeds Social Services in Crisis
The Tory, Liberal Democrat and Green Party coalition running Leeds City Council is faced with a huge deficit on Social Services budget. Some of the deficit it inherited from the previous New Labour administration. The size varies between £7 million and £14 million depending on who you talk to.
Nothing appears to have been done in the first six months of the new coalition when it was led by the right-wing Liberal Democrat Mark Harris. It is now the left-leaning Tory Andrew Carter's turn to be leader. He has no option but to tackle the crisis. The obvious answer is to ask the government for more money. After all, Brown can find £14 million a day to occupy Iraq. However although Carter has publicly raised his doubts over the occupation his New Labour and Liberal Democrat colleagues have kept their mouths shut.
This lack of guts by New Labour (both Councillors and MPs) in Leeds with respect to Blairism was one of the reasons why they lost the election. They failed to get the necessary resources by challenging the government; instead, behind closed doors, they went on their knees for scraps.
Leeds hospital cuts
New Labour's lack of guts in Leeds extends to the hospital service. The Wakefield area hospitals have had their £35 million debt cancelled by the government. Leeds hospitals have a similar debt but this will have to be met by cuts. A senior administrator in Leeds hospitals put this down to the MPs in the Wakefield area being more influential than in Leeds. One who he named is my old friend David Hinchliffe, the MP for Wakefield, who has repeatedly harassed the government. They obviously didn't want to face him over the issue. In Leeds the MPs are legendary for sucking up to the Blair Brown regime and their spinelessness has now damaged the health prospects of everyone in Leeds.
New Labour Watch: Rich getter rich faster under New Labour
The Office for National Statistics in a report on social inequality has shown that the gap between the rich and the poor has risen faster under New Labour than under the Tories. The richest top 1% have seen their wealth double. On average they are now over £700.000 better off. The gap in life expectancy has also widened. New Labour plans to increase the gaps further by taxing the poor more than the rich and also make the poor work longer.
New Labour Watch: New Labour let in the killers
US citizen David Bieber has just been convicted for the murder of a policeman in Leeds. In 2000 another US citizen, Kleasen, was found to have cache of arms in Barton on Humber. Both were on the run from murder charges in the USA. Shona McIsaac, MP for Cleethorpes, and Fabian Hamilton, MP for Leeds North East, rejected the suggestion that these two murders could have been prevented by stopping the killers entering the UK.
However both of these New Labour clones have failed to support legislation which would have increased checks on US citizens coming to the UK to bring them in line with the checks carried out on UK citizens going to the US. They also supported the unequal treaty on extradition with the USA.
Of course if they had been Roma coming from Prague they wouldn't been allowed in. The Law Lords have condemned New Labour's refugee policy as "inherent and systematic" racism.
New Labour Watch: New Labour spins away global warming.
New figures indicate that the UK is not going to reach its target of cutting carbon dioxide output. They are even in danger of missing their modest targets under the Kyoto agreement.
And what was the government's response? First their Chief Scientist said it was bad and we should try harder otherwise we might get more summers like 2003. This was a calculated spin. He knows that the most likely effect of global warming on the UK is more cold because of a possible reversal of the Gulf Stream.
The second spin, from Blair's office, was that he was putting pressure on the US to bring them on board for tackling global warming by tying them up to a 'Kyoto Lite' protocol which won't mention carbon dioxide emissions! Blair knows there is no chance of Bush signing up to any kind of admission of climate change. The leaks were designed to take attention away from his own government's failings.
New Labour Watch: Hilary Benn and the Accountants
The Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) have joined forces with War on Want to produce a report on the Department for International Development's use of consultancy firms in developing countries.
The big accountancy firms of Pricewaterhouse Cooper, KPMG and Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu have won contracts to help with the privatisation of utilities. The report calls upon the government to stop this.
The full report is Profiting from Poverty.
Hilary Benn, MP for Leeds Central, is the government minister responsible for giving out these contracts. His father Tony Benn has just him helped open the Hamara Healthy Living Centre in South Leeds. He is clearly proud that his son has reached the cabinet, but how does he reconcile this with Hilary's right-wing Blairism?
New Labour Watch: New Labour and Nuclear Power
There are several arguments against nuclear power, one of which is the difficulties of disposing of waste that remains radioactive for thousands of years. The House of Lords Science Committee has attacked New Labour over its failure over seven years in repeatedly ignoring recommendations on its disposal. New Labour's response has been to set up another inquiry by a body called the Committee on Radioactive Waste. It hasn't been given any deadline to come up with a solution.
Elliott Morley, the environment minister, defends the delay on the grounds that any solution will cost billions and that public should be involved. However the real reason is that Blair wants to start the nuclear power industry again under the cover of the fight against greenhouse gases and doesn't want his plan muddied by people raising the costs and dangers of disposal.
-- Half-Celestial Khan
