Emergency Demonstration Against the Looming Attacks on Iraq's Cities
Sunday 7th November
Meet 2pm, Parliament Square
Come and make your protest in your own way!
'In the name of recapturing Iraqi cities so that polling can take place, US forces have already started - and are planning to widen - a campaign of air strikes which will probably cause more civilian casualties than last year's invasion' (Guardian, 9 Oct).
A massive attack on Fallujah - where US forces massacred hundreds of Iraqis in April - is almost certain and will, in the words of one US official, be "very bloody and nasty" (Washington Post on-line edition, 16 Oct). British troops are being redeployed from southern Iraq to help form part of an "outer ring of steel" around the city in anticipation of an all-out assault (Independent, 22 Oct).
BLAIR WAVERED
When the US attacked Fallujah in April, more than 600 Iraqis were killed in the first week and 'the vast majority of the dead were women, children and the elderly,' according to local medical sources (Guardian, 12 Apr). Publicly Tony Blair stood lock-step with the US Government 'den[ying]... heavy-handedness by US forces' (Guardian, 20 Apr) and asserting that it was 'perfectly right and proper that [the US] take action' (BBC, 28 Apr). Privately, however, he 'appealed to Washington to halt the offensive.' Why? 'The Prime Minister had been under pressure for more than a year from an antiwar majority in his ruling Labour Party,' and civilian casualties were 'causing opposition to flare' (LA Times, 24 Oct).
WE CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE
Popular protest here in the UK could help derail the planned attacks on Fallujah and other Iraqi towns. No US assault is inevitable. If an attack does take place, protests before, during and after the assaults can limit the damage and help to deter further attacks.
Please join us on the 7th November!
Called by Stop the Attacks - an ad hoc collection of anti-war activists old and new.
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