Haringey Stop the War Coalition
	Stop this War!

The hijackings and destruction in New York and Washington were a terrible, brutal horror. But Bush and Blair are compounding this atrocity by starting a war in Afghanistan which will dwarf the death and destruction in the States, is already leading to more terrorist reprisals and could plunge the world into World War 3.

	THREE REASONS WHY THIS WAR IS WRONG

1. More innocent people will die. Already 7.5 million people are starving in Afghanistan. Half a million have fled for their lives. “Surgical strikes” are proving to be a myth. The US is bombing massively before committing troops, just as it did in Vietnam, Cambodia and Iraq. The people of Afghanistan are being punished for their rulers’ actions.

2. Military intervention is not the solution. It is the problem. Just a glance at Afghanistan’s last 25 years of war demonstrates this. The Mujahideen fought the Russians with western support. At the time, radical Islam was a useful weapon for the US to rally the troops against the “heathen” Russians. But once the Russians had been defeated, the west abandoned the Afghans. They made no attempt to create a democratic self-sufficient society. Instead, Afghanistan continued to be a war zone. The Taliban were supported and armed, first by the US, and then by Pakistan. Unfortunately it is unlikely that the Northern Alliance will be different to the Taliban.

But there are things the west could do to improve the situation. The US and UK should immediately stop the bombardment and airlift food aid and medicines. Open the borders, welcome fleeing refugees, and send in convoys of trucks. The best way of defeating terrorists is to win over their supporters by showing that the west does care. In short, ultimately the west should drop the debt, not the bomb.

3. Bombing will make the conflict spread. It is what terrorists want. Violence begets violence. Western bombs and double standards encourage terrorism, as the anthrax attacks demonstrate. Even if US forces could execute or grab Bin Laden, the threat of terrorism would remain. George Bush openly talks about a “ten year war” all over the world. The conflict in Afghanistan risks destabilising the entire region and plunging the world into war. This war is both counterproductive and immoral.

	STOP THIS WAR				STOP THE RACIST BACKLASH				DEFEND CIVIL RIGHTS