Haringey Stop the War Coalition
	Stop the War on the Iraqi people!

BRIEFINGS ON:  IRAQ: BEFORE THE WAR AND NOW  PALESTINE  The US war drive  AFGHANISTAN: RESULTS WHAT NOW: TROOPS OR AID?  WHAT YOU CAN DO

Next (Inter)National Demo 19 March 2005, Central London   Lobby David Lammy MP 10.30am, 18 December Assemble junction of Bruce Grove and High Road, Tottenham leaflet   LOCAL GROUPS: Muswell Hill East Finchley Crouch End Stroud Green Wood Green Tottenham Green Lanes Peace Crew Council Workers web page Photograph gallery

	IT'S TIME TO END THIS WAR THREE REASONS TO END THE OCCUPATION PETITION FOUNDING STATEMENT

Tony Blair has admitted that the invasion of Iraq is a disaster. The reasons he gave for going to war were lies. No WMD, no threat, no liberation. Terrorism has got worse. Blair went to war to appease the most dangerous man on the planet - George W Bush.		“Iraq is no threat to its neighbours and has been effectively disarmed” - Colin Powell in Egypt, 2001

		Up to 35,000 Iraqis have died. Over 1,000 British and American soldiers have lost their lives in a war they did not choose to fight, fought for all the wrong reasons. Thousands more have been seriously injured.
	Ex-CIA agent Saddam Hussein has been removed. Current CIA agent Ayad Allawi has been installed.
	Iraq has not been liberated. In an opinion poll carried out by the Coalition Provisional Authority in April, 92% of Iraqis said the Americans were occupiers. Most Iraqis say that US troops should leave Iraq immediately.
	Now they are fighting to free their country. One third of Iraq is in the hands of the Iraqi resistance. The US is losing the war. So now Bush is threatening Iran, and Blair is talking about a 'second war' - in reality, to try to stop the Iraqis winning the first one.

More than two thirds of British people say we should bring our troops home. It's time to end this war.

What went wrong?

Basic water and electricity supplies are erratic or non-existent in Baghdad and Basra - at 57 and 60°C, two of the hottest cities in the world this summer - because contracts have been handed out to US corporations. Troops shoot to kill. And the new colonial overlords of Iraq are constructing a "democracy", without any elections, consisting of a government whose appointees have not stepped foot in Iraq in the last twenty years.

As a result, in April, the only serious opinon opinion poll carried out in Iraq (by the out-going CPA) found that 92% of Iraqis said that the Americans were an occupying army.

With such opposition, democracy will never give the Americans what they want. So instead they plan to run fake elections and to suppress the resistance, in what will become a bloodier and bloodier conflict.

Before the war we argued that this war would be a disaster for the people of Iraq. We were proved right. We also said something else. That this war would be fought for the oil of Iraq and therefore real democracy could never be contemplated in Iraq. The reason was, and is, devastatingly simple. The first act of a real democracy would be to nationalise the oil fields in order to raise revenue to rebuild the country. If that happened the US would lose its prize assets and the process of liberation would inspire democracy across the Arab world, just as the USSR's retreat from Eastern Europe in 1989 opened the floodgates for revolutions against the old regimes. The US simply could not afford to let this nightmare scenario happen.

Tony Lied

Tony Blair lied to the people of Britain in order to get his way. His evidence at the Hutton Inquiry contradicts what he said to Parliament, ie. that there was an imminent threat from Saddam Hussein.

He lied when he said that this was a war:

Blair is facing his Wargate. But Watergate was about burglary. Wargate is about war. Blair and Bush lied to go to war and are responsible for the deaths of thousands. By staying in Iraq they are perpetuating the crime.

The only grain of truth Blair uttered was when he whispered there would be "regime change". But a regime imposed by the USA and harnessed to the needs of multinational oil companies, rather than Iraqis, would be a regime at war with its own people. This is what is happening. The occupation is unravelling faster than expected because of two factors. First, the police force and the Republican Guard collapsed, leaving troops to police the cities. Second, the billions spent on the war omitted to ensure a rapid, practical, relief effort.

Tony Blair also lied to soldiers and their families. He told them that soldiers would be welcomed with open arms and would be home in weeks. Instead, they have been left to rot between a rock and a hard place, enforcing a military dictatorship over the Iraqi people and being fired at by Iraqis trying to free their country. Soldiers from the 1991 Gulf War have been dying from Gulf War Syndrome at a rate of 2 a week, ignored by the MOD. Is this fate in store for veterans of this Iraq War?

Soldiers are dying in their hundreds. Iraqis are dying in their thousands. The British medical journal, The Lancet, reports a survey which puts the figure at around 100,000 directly from violent death - bullets, bombs, falling masonry - alone.

An independent Iraqi NGO carried out a careful 'census' which calculated that at least 35,000 Iraqis (soldiers and civilians) had been killed by the invading armies. Iraqbodycount reported this summer that there were over 20,000 Iraqis with major injuries. US hospitals report thousands of injured US soldiers, more than the military hospitals can cope with.

How to end this disaster

The only way to end this disaster is to hand Iraq back to the Iraqis and to pull all the troops out now. We should be supplying aid, and giving Iraqis the resources to rebuild their country, not trying to impose a new dictatorship and pumping out the spoils of war. Aid without strings is the only kind of foreign intervention the Iraqis need.

The $500bn US military machine will not pull back willingly. The hawks in the White House and Pentagon will only retreat when the cost of staying is greater than the cost of leaving. Two factors can make this happen.

Talk to your friends, neighbours and workmates and get them to come on the demonstration on 19 March to say Troops Out and Bush Out. Join the stalls leafletting and petitioning in the high street. Get in contact: email haringey@stopwar.org.uk.

For up-to-date information also bookmark the national Stop the War Coalition website.

	END THE OCCUPATION - BRING THE TROOPS HOME DEMO 19 MARCH PETITION FOUNDING STATEMENT

Following the 15 February 2003 demonstration, when 2 million people marched in Central London, the anti-war movement did not disappear.

When war broke out on March 19th, over 1,000 school kids and over a hundred adults demonstrated in Haringey. There were protests at CONEL in Tottenham and Finsbury Park station, in Crouch End, Wood Green and Muswell Hill. Many Haringey residents protested with their workmates in Central London and marched to Parliament in the evening.

On March 22nd, up to 750,000 people demonstrated: the second biggest demonstration in British history was organised in under a week, in the face of a hostile media.

On March 29th, we organised a local demonstration through Haringey which pulled 500 people - the largest local demonstration since the Poll Tax.

On April 12th, as we were told the war was over, 250,000 demonstrated: the second biggest demonstration ever in Britain during wartime.

The size of our demonstrations directly affects the confidence of millions to stand up against this war. Join the protests. Help us build the movement. Stop Bush's "war on terrorism", which will only bring more terror around the world.

	EVENTS & ACTIVITY ALL WELCOME

Local public meetings

	Stalls on Saturdays Crouch End Broadway  Town Hall, 11.30am-1.00pm Muswell Hill  Barclay's Bank, 11.00am-1.00pm Stroud Green  Londis, 11.00am-3pm Wood Green  Boot's, High Road, 2-4.30pm Other stalls may be up and running

	EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM alexandra palace bloomsbury 15-17 october WHY YOU SHOULD GO TO THE EUROPEAN SOCIAL FORUM The European Social Forum (ESF) is a giant gathering of people from across Europe against war and privatisation. It is the next stop for the European peace and anti-war movements. The Florence ESF in 2002 was the launchpad for the global day of action against war on 15 Feb 2003. That day has gone down in history. The London ESF is taking place on our doorstep, in Alexandra Palace, two weeks before the US election. It will be a chance to show the world what we feel about Bush's warmongering policies and the support he has had from Blair. And it is an opportunity to discuss the big issues for our movement with anti war activists from around the world. From Friday morning to the demo on Sunday at 1pm there will be a host of international forums, rallies and debates on war including: End the occupation of Iraq - What future for Palestine? - Strategies for peace and disarmament - The Hijab and islamaphobia - The faultine in British politics - US imperialism and the elections - The struggle for democracy in the Middle East - and much more. Speakers include Lindsey German, Kate Hudson, Anas Altikriti, Tony Benn, Ahmed Ben Bella, Rose Gentle and George Galloway. An ESF pass for all events costs £30/£20. To pay, go online to www.fse-esf.org, call 020 7833 8440 or email ukesfoffice@gn.apc.org. For local information, speakers, leaflets etc. call 07803 167266 or haringeyesf@stopwar.org.uk another world is possible

	March 29th 2003 Haringey Demo 500+ DEMONSTRATE AGAINST WAR IN GREEN LANES pic: Simon Hester Original Leaflet

	250+ RALLY AGAINST WAR IN WOOD GREEN Biggest anti-war meeting in Haringey yet Press release with more pictures pic: Matt Saywell Original Leaflet

	Stop the Blair War Project
	“We the undersigned oppose any military attack on Iraq by the US and Britain. The majority of people in this country oppose war, yet their views are being ignored by the government, so we pledge our support for protests against this war.”
	Signed by: Cllr Viv Manheim (Mayor of Haringey, Labour), Cllr Ron Aitken (Liberal Democrats), Cllr Jonathan Bloch (Liberal Democrats), Cllr Tom Davidson (Labour), Cllr Matt Davies (Liberal Democrats), Cllr Isidoros Diakides (Labour), Cllr Bob Hare (Liberal Democrats), Cllr Brian Millar (Labour), Lucy Craig (Ex-Haringey Labour Cllr 1990-2002), Keith Flett (Chair, Haringey Trades Union Council), Tariq Ali (writer and broadcaster), Ros Asquith (author and cartoonist), Joe Ball (Highgate CND), Manuela Beste (Headteacher, Royal Free Hospital School), Rikki Blue (musician), Peter Budge (Green Party), Joanna Bornat (senior lecturer, OU), Laura Butterfield (Chair of Governors, Coldfall School), Stuart Butterfield (musician), Mike Calvert (Asst Sec, Islington UNISON LG; Tottenham CLP), Steve Cook, Bob Cottingham (Muswell Hill & Highgate Pensioners Association), Nick Davidson (documentary film maker), Peter Draper (Emeritus Consultant in Public Health, Guy’s Hospital), Maria Duggan (public health policy analyst), Vincent Ebrahim (actor), Friedrich Ernst (Green Party), Jo Field (NUT, Fortismere School), John Fordham (Jazz Critic, The Guardian), Andrew Hallifax (record engineer), Simon Hester (Socialist Alliance), Victoria Hume (arts coordinator for London hospitals), Sara Kestelman (actor and writer), Olive Kosky (New Politics Network), Linda Lennard, Liam Maguire (poet and novelist), Rosemary McCartan (Haringey Defend Council Housing), Eleanor Merton (local activist), John McKenzie (businessman), Suzanne Nuri (reporter, London Turkish Gazette), Geoff Palmer (Socialist Alliance), Bill Paterson (actor), Maureen Paton (author and freelance journalist), Harold Richardson (Crouch End LP), John Ringham (actor), Prof Harold Rosen (academic), Anslem Samuel (Socialist Alliance), Juliet Soloman (local activist), Richard Stein (human rights lawyer), Stephen Taylor (Muswell Hill Friends of the Earth), Sue Teddern (writer), Sean Wallis (Socialist Alliance), Howard Williams (musician), Alan Woodward (Defend Our Leisure Services). Affiliations listed for identification purposes only.
	To add your name to the statement, please click here to send us an email. Please state your name and affiliation.
	Local Protests in Haringey on 31 October 2002 included: Stroud Green: 12 noon, Stop the Traffic & the War: corner of Stroud Green Road & Woodstock Road Crouch End: Rally by Clock Tower, 1pm Tottenham: Rally on Tottenham Green, 1pm Wood Green: Rally outside Main Library, 1pm Muswell Hill: Festival 4-7pm, The Broadway pictures from day of action Muswell Hill Festival Against the War 4-7pm The Broadway. Events included:- 'Headless bodies' die-in Pensioners Against the War demonstration Musical events, including a Woodcraft Folk choir Candlelit vigil by Muswell Hill and Highgate CND Teachers Against the War demonstration Bush and Blair look-alikes event Mass write-in of anti-war post cards to Barbara Roche MP Halloween event to put a spell on the Bush/Blair war plans Multi-faith anti-war protest   War protest stops traffic, Hornsey Journal, 7 November 2002 Stop the War protesters stopped traffic in Stroud Green Road in a bid to drive home an anti-violence message.    People campaigning against a possible war with Iraq blocked traffic for 20 minutes in a Hallowe’en protest.    They brought cars to a standstill at the junction of Stroud Green Road and Woodstock Road.    Drivers were left stranded and protesters handed out leaflets at the peaceful protest.    Police were called to the scene, but campaign organisers say officers showed sympathy with the protest.    Protests were also held outside the College of North East London in Tottenham; at Crouch End Clocktower and on Muswell Hill Broadway before the campaigners headed into central London for a Stop the War rally in Parliament Square.    Lookalikes of President George Bush and Tony Blair led the protests at Muswell Hill Roundabout, where there was also a “poodles for peace” demonstration and music from Haringey Woodcraft Folk.    Keith Flett, from Haringey Stop the War, said: “There is huge local opposition to a war with Iraq in Haringey and this was shown on October 31. Every protest reported a welcome from the public.” Ham & High Broadway, 8 November 2002 Anti-war protesters took to the streets of Muswell Hill dressed as Tony Blair and George Bush on Hallowe’en. Hundreds of residents turned up to the event in the Broadway in protest at a possible war with Iraq.    Robin Beste from the Muswell Hill Stop The War group, said: “it was a brilliant evening which far outstripped our expectations. We started of by running a stall with just three people in the Broadway and now we have managed to get more than 3,000 signatures from people in this area alone.”

	What we said before the war started

Tony Blair wants to commit us to a horrific war. An attack on Iraq will kill thousands of innocent people, devastate a country already reeling from sanctions and bombing, and further destabilise the Middle East. Bush’s oil and war faction admit this isn’t about Saddam’s weapons. When they talk about “regime change” they mean replacing him with another dictatorship. The US has never permitted democratic government in Iraq since the CIA-backed coup in the 1950s that gave Saddam power, and they will not risk losing control now. Democracy in Iraq would undermine the jigsaw puzzle of competing dictators sitting on the oil fields and raise demands to tax the oil companies to reconstruct elementary health, education and infrastructure bombed and sanctioned out of existence. If you doubt this claim, just compare the promises made before previous wars and their outcome. Before the Afghan war the US pledged huge funds for reconstruction. But as the war machine moves on, devatation is in its wake. At the Tokyo Conference in January, less than 0.5% of the cost of the military campaign was promised to Afghanistan for reconstruction! Contrast the US treatment of Israel (which has as many independent nuclear warheads as Britain) and Iraq (with none). In George Bush’s war, it will be the ordinary people of Iraq that suffer, not Saddam. As in Afghanistan and the last Gulf War, the US will bomb massively from a great height before putting a single soldier on the ground. They have a huge armoury of usable “theatre” weapons of mass destruction. Thermobaric bombs, fuel air explosives, “daisy cutters” and depleted uranium warheads.		“There is no heroism in bombing innocent civilians. So many people, especially politicians, seemed so keen to get angry on our behalf. It seemed the only people not in rage were the families of the victims. We had too much grief to cope with for that” - Rita Lasar, whose brother was killed in the World Trade Centre on September 11th 2001  Peaceful Tomorrows website More quotes Contributed articles
		“There is really nothing to be said for an invasion of Iraq. Saddam Hussein could be replaced by someone equally hideous whose name is not Saddam Hussein. It is the name Saddam that haunts the US administration, not his policies” - Said Aburish, leading Arab journalist and author

British troops will be only a fig leaf for this slaughter. It will be George Bush and the US military who decide who to kill, what bombs to drop, how the war starts and how it ends. Tony Blair’s policy of appeasement promises a restraint that he can’t deliver. We refuse to pay a blood price for a bloody oil war.

Similarly, many people want the UN to restrain the US because they trust neither Blair nor Bush. But we should point out that fuel air explosives (conventional weapons with the ferocity of a nuclear bomb minus the radioactivity) with a UN logo stamped on the side will kill just as indiscriminately as those emblazoned with the Stars and Stripes.

The majority of British people are against Bush and Blair’s war drive. The demonstration on Saturday 28 September 2002 was the largest ever held in Britain against any war. It was FOUR times bigger than the 100,000-strong demonstrations at the height of the Vietnam war, or the demos last year against the Afghan war. Not only was it massive, it was supported by 12 national trade unions, people of many religions and of none. As can be seen from the photographs it was also the most diverse and multi-racial demonstration that Britain has ever seen. This simple fact repudiates the lazy argument that opposition to the actions of the Israeli military means anti-semitism, or, as Scott Ritter testifies, that opposition to the US war on Iraq equals anti-americanism.

The size of that demonstration is testament to all the hard work of thousands of ordinary people who became activists through witnessing the horror and hypocrisy of the “war on terror”. We owe each other a huge debt, but we now have a massive responsibility on our shoulders.

Tony Blair wants carte blanche to go to war behind the US, despite massive opposition in the ranks of his own party and the trade unions. The Stop the War Coalition is now urging everyone opposed to the war to stand up for peace. On 31st October we organised local protests and demonstrations across Haringey (see above).

If you want to be kept informed, please join our email list. Get in touch with us and we will put you in contact with other local people who are campaigning against the war. Put a poster in your window and get your friends, neighbours and workmates to do the same. Ask them to sign the national CND/STWC petition.

We are winning the argument - now let’s win the peace.

	What we said about the US war drive in 2002

The basic case of the peace movement is that the ‘war on terrorism’ is immoral and counterproductive to its alleged aims (see above and below). To put it bluntly: if US bombing and invasion was such a success in the past, why is Bush so keen to rerun the wars of the last century? Hence, much of the administration’s recent rhetoric has shifted onto the so-called “axis of evil” - an even more flexible doctrine, unconstrained by minor difficulties like whether it will actually work. But can Bush be trusted to know what evil is, when ex-enemies become allies, and ex-allies, enemies? For Bush, “evil” simply brackets the current set of “rogue states”: strategic or simply inconvenient competitors to US interests. Taken on face value, the policy is based on a startling ignorance of the political and religious history of the Middle East. Iraq and Iran in the same “axis”? This would be an historic if unlikely diplomatic achievement - given the 1 million dead from the eight-year Iran-Iraq war and continuing animosity since - never mind centuries of religious rivalries and regional disputes. Saddam and Osama Bin Laden in the same axis? Bin Laden's stated aims include the removal of Saddam Hussein's regime.

“There is no indication, no proof that Iraq is involved in terrorism. This terror argument cannot be used to legitimise old enemies” - German government spokesperson “The best, and in some cases, the only, defence is a good offence” - Donald Rumsfeld “US policy is that, regardless of what the inspectors do, the people of Iraq would be better off with a different regime in Baghdad.” - Colin Powell “This is a period of enormous opportunity, a period akin to 1945-7, to create a new balance of power.” - Condoleezza Rice

Given all of this, where is the voice of restraint from Tony Blair? What happened to Blair’s promise to restrain Bush from targets other than Afghanistan? Tony Blair appeased Bush over Afghanistan. Now he is Bush’s No. 1 ally in Europe, his recruiting seargent for war on Iraq.

The US claims that an attack on Iraq is justified by Iraq’s possible ownership of weapons of mass destruction. The ex-UNSCOM arms inspector, Scott Ritter, ex-Marine and, in his own words, "patriotic American", says that Iraq is completely disarmed and the US has presented no evidence whatsoever to support their argument. Perhaps it is unsurprising that the US administration sees no reason to present any evidence to support this claim. Little things like facts must not get away with a war Bush just has to fight. Nor is Iraq’s agreement for inspection sufficient to avert slaughter.

Of course, all of this is total hypocrisy. The US put Saddam Hussein in power and armed him. Britain and the US continued to arm him, turning a blind eye when he slaughtered Kurds in Halabja in 1983, throughout the 8 years of the Iran-Iraq war, where over a million people died, and the aftermath of that war. The US has nuclear, chemical and biological weapons. And the US refuses inspection of its weapons sites by any other power, including the UN.

An attack on Iraq would mean tens of thousands more slaughtered civilians and conscripts, would generate more hatred of the West, and have unknown consequences across the Middle East and the world. It is a gamble for control of Middle Eastern oil with the future of the world at stake.

	Why we call for freedom for Palestine

We have consistently argued that this entire war policy is counterproductive and immoral (see below). This can be clearly seen in the case of Israel. Every repressive move against the Palestinians over the last 50 years has resulted in more terrorist attacks. The tragic reality is that the Palestinians have nowhere else to turn. The responsibility is on the governments of Israel and the US (and, by extension, Britain) to stop this war.

“To [take action against Iraq] would unite the whole Muslim world against the US [and] the coalition against terrorism would disintegrate” - Gerald Kaufman MP, 17 April 2002  Guardian report

Bush and Blair are worried about one thing only: that their hypocrisy over Israel will expose their real war aims in Iraq and elsewhere. If this is not a war against “terror”, what is it for? The Israel/Palestine conflict points to an age-old reason: OIL and POWER. But protests get results. Our government is split over attacking Iraq, and Blair is on the defensive. 70% of people in the UK say they are opposed to war on Iraq. The more people who demonstrate against the US war drive and in solidarity with the Palestinians, the more we can keep up the pressure for peace. We applaud the action of those Israelis, including 385 IDF reservists, who are speaking out for peace. We are deeply indebted to those international peace activists who are putting their lives on the line in Palestine. The best thing we can do to help them is to build the peace movement here in the UK.

“[F]ive Palestinian Authority policemen [were] disarmed and then shot dead in the street in Ramallah in cold blood, and just a couple of days later a similar fate awaited another thirty: lined up, blindfolded and then all machine-gunned to death from a nearby Merkava tank... [N]either of these incidents was ever reported in our mainstream media.” - Ted Curtis, International observer and peace activist, witnessing the IDF in Bethlehem in 2002  Full article

	“I feel I must encourage people to view the news not just in terms of headlines in ink, not just in terms of stories on TV and radio but also in the context of people whose only crime is to be at the wrong place at the wrong time, and whose offence is no greater than that of children huddling in fear in the basements of hospitals.” - Suhail Shafi, Maltese doctor, who was 6 years old when the US bombed Tripoli in 1986  Full article

	WHAT ARE THE RESULTS OF THE WAR IN AFGHANISTAN?

What kind of “victory” is this? The world is a much more dangerous place. Afghan society has been bombed to ruins and is even more dependent on the gun. India and Russia are looking at how the war can be used to their strategic advantage. The US, bolstered by its “hit and run” victory, feels confident to rip up the Anti-Ballistic Missile treaty and talk up the prospect of invading Iraq. Palestine is in flames. Meanwhile, under the pretext of fighting terrorism, Blunkett and Blair have given themselves the right to indefinitely jail anyone without trial. From the beginning of the war, we argued that a “war against terrorism” was counterproductive, immoral and that we would have to pay for it.

“...The American media have declared victory in Afghanistan. Another lie. Hamid Karzai’s government controls only a few Kabul streets. Afghanistan is a place of anarchy and lawlessness, of rape and brigandage after America’s war. One of Mr. Karzai’s own ministers is murdered at the Bagram air base in an inter-cabinet feud.” - Robert Fisk, Britain’s leading expert on Middle Eastern affairs in The Independent 21/2/2002

Their war has not gone unopposed. In every corner of the world, and from Haringey to Berkley, people have come together to oppose the US’s “war on terrorism”. In a few months the anti-war movement became millions-b. Last year we saw two massive demonstrations in Central London, with 50,000 and 100,000 people on them. In September 2002, 400,000 united for peace and justice, in the biggest anti-war demonstration in British history. In Florence, up to 1 million people from across Europe demonstrated against war on Iraq. What we do can make a difference, if we all unite for peace. We said last year that if the 30% of people who have consistently opposed the war in the UK stand up, speak up and protest, we can pull the middle 60% into opposing the war and force New Labour and Tony Blair to think again. This will also encourage many more US citizens to come out openly against the war. This is now happening. We are winning the argument. A Guardian/ICM poll in March found that 51% of people opposed extending the war to Iraq. Blair is increasingly isolated in his own party. We have to keep up the pressure. Now the figure is well over 70% despite all their propoganda.

	We say: Stop this war drive Recall ground troops from Afghanistan Send aid and drop the debt Defend our civil rights and no to racism

	Demonstrate outside Downing Street at 6pm if they bomb again.

	WHAT NOW IN AFGHANISTAN? WHY GROUND TROOPS ARE WRONG WE SHOULD AIRLIFT AID

It is hard to assess the damage of the war. What we do know is not encouraging. Millions have been displaced. Thousands have been killed by the bombs. Cities are in ruins. Refugees are starving in border camps. Away from our TV screens, in isolated mountain passes, aid agencies believe that many hundreds of thousands have been starving and freezing to death. The first task of the West should have been to feed and clothe these people so that they could survive the winter. The Red Cross needs helicopters to airlift food to the mountains. Where is the aid effort to match the war effort? There may not be much food in Afghanistan. But there is one thing that Afghanistan has plenty of. Guns. Continuous guerilla war and economic isolation means the rule of the bandit. Those left alive loot the cities to survive. The Taliban were brutal, but they were only the latest in a long line of brutal warlords. If Afghanistan is going to move forward, if women's position in society is going to be improved, then more than bombs and platitudes are needed. In this situation, only aid and development can break the hold of the warlords. It is worth repeating: the only way of ending the cycle of violence, poverty and starvation is to flood the country with humanitarian aid, without strings, without weapons, and without troops. Refugees should be allowed to flee to safety. Even sending supposedly “neutral” ground troops would be counterproductive. It is easy to commit troops to a warzone; it is far harder to get them out. At best, the presence of troops becomes a focus for warring factions, as in the case of Macedonia. Rival groups will try to get the troops to intervene on their side. But Western soldiers in Afghanistan are far from neutral. The central questions are, simply: what are their orders, and which way will they jump if pushed?

“A European demining expert in Kabul who works closely with the Pentagon reckons that up to 8,000 civilians have been killed ... Professor Marc Herold, of the University of New Hampshire, puts the number of civilian casualties at at least 4,000” - The Guardian, February 12th, 2002 “This has been the most accurate war ever fought in this nation’s history” - General Tommy Franks, US Afghan campaign commander “In fact, [the rate of civilians killed per bomb dropped] was far higher in the Afghanistan conflict - perhaps four times higher - than in the 1999 Balkans war” - Carl Conetta, Commonwealth Institute “What causes the documented high level of civilian casualties - 3,767 civilian deaths in eight and a half weeks? ... The critical element remains the very low value put upon Afghan civilian lives by US military planners... as clearly revealed by US willingness to bomb heavily populated regions” - Professor Marc Herold, University of New Hampshire, in the first major study of Afghan casualties

	WHAT YOU CAN DO MORE

The “Spray-on” Haringey banner in Trafalgar Square, 13/10/2001. Pic: Vaughan Melzer.

We have to get organised now to stop this “war on terrorism”. 100,000 people demonstrated in Central London on the 18th November last year, despite the fact that the media kept trying to convince us that the war was over. 100,000 more demonstrated in solidarity with the Palestinians in April, in a fantastic, overwhelmingly Asian, demonstration almost entirely ignored by the British press. Similar numbers have demonstrated in the USA. The world-wide anti-war movement is growing. We are winning the arguments as our rulers’ wars unravel.

Geoff Hoon and Jack Straw said at the end of 2001 that Britain would support the US in attacking Iraq, while Britain sent troops into the quagmire created by the war in Afghanistan. This policy is appeasing the hawks in the US government. Tony Blair’s “hand of restraint” is in fact a thumbs-up for whatever George Bush wants. Bush now says that any state he declares is in the “axis of evil” is a legitimate target. These people want to be able to bomb unilaterally and use the UN as a flag of convenience to sort out the resulting mess. Unfortunately we cannot rely on the UN to stop Bush. GW Bush can bully the United Nations into giving them a green light for war, just as his father did in the last US-Iraq war.

What really counts is what we - ordinary people - do. We have to keep up the pressure. We appeal to all like-minded individuals and organisations to join together to continue to build a powerful peace movement that can extend a hand of friendship to the poor of the world and isolate the war-mongers.

For campaigning and letter-writing ideas, see this page.

Gallery! See where we’ve been, out and about campaigning in Haringey.

	GET ACTIVE! JOIN THE haringey@stopwar MAILING LIST

If you live or work in Haringey and want to help out, please get in touch. Email us and we will add you to our regular mailing list. Bookmark this page in your browser and this site will grow as we get organised. The address is haringey@stopwar.org.uk.

Window posters for download (PDF):

	LOCAL GROUPS: NEW & GROWING!

	OTHER SITES OF INTEREST

	END THE OCCUPATION - BRING THE TROOPS HOME DEMO 19 MARCH PETITION FOUNDING STATEMENT

	STOP THIS WAR				STOP THE RACIST BACKLASH				DEFEND CIVIL RIGHTS