100,000 demonstrate in London
Tell Blair: 'No troops to Baghdad'
By John Catalinotto
The British government's decision to allow an 850-member
battle group to move from the Basra region to Babil province
near Baghdad in Iraq has awakened a new wave of protest
throughout British society.
Families of the soldiers, Iraq war opponents, Labor Party
dissidents and even Conservative Party politicians have
criticized Prime Minister Tony Blair for giving in to U.S.
pressure on this issue.
The troops are part of the occupiers' effort to crush the
uprising in Falluja, a city that has maintained its freedom
from the occupation. People expect an imminent assault on the
city by U.S. forces. With British troops participating, U.S.
President George W. Bush can claim he has allied backing for
this murderous attack on the Iraqi people.
The Daily Record reported Oct. 25 that "frightened families
of Black Watch soldiers yesterday hit out at Prime Minister
Tony Blair--as the regiment prepared to move to Iraq's
so-called Triangle of Death." Yvonn Hanlon, whose son is in the
battle group, said she had lost trust in Blair and would not
vote for him again.
Former Conservative Party cabinet ministers Lord Hurd and
Kenneth Clarke have joined Lord Heseltine to criticize Blair's
position on the Middle East. Heseltine even accused Blair of
"lying" to get Britain into the Iraq war behind the United
States. That these rightists can attack Blair on this issue
shows how vulnerable the leader of "New Labor" has been made by
his pro-war actions.
100,000 march in London
Along with these individual reactions, the anti-war movement
has also spoken out. On Oct. 17, the last day of the European
Social Forum meeting in London, 70,000 to 100,000 people took
to the streets there to protest the war on Iraq and the
occupation. They were called out by the Stop the War Coalition.
The anticipated assault on Falluja was on their minds.
Former Labor Member of Parliament George Galloway, a
longtime war resister, is now a leader of the anti-war Respect
Party. Speaking at the anti-war march, Galloway said: "There is
one word in our hearts and our prayers--Falluja. This is going
to be a new Stalingrad over the next few weeks."
In 1942-43 Stalingrad, in the Soviet Union, stood up to the
Nazi assault. The defeat of the German army there was the
turning point in World War II.
Some in the anti-war movement have begun to make direct
appeals to the British troops. One such was Jo Wilding, who was
shot at by U.S. troops while driving an ambulance into Falluja
last April. Wilding testified about this before the popular War
Crimes Tribunal organized by the International Action Center in
New York on Aug. 26.
In her appeal to the troops Wilding described her
experiences in Falluja and said: "The U.S. has asked the
British government to send you north to free up forces for
another offensive against Falluja. I'm writing to ask you to
refuse any orders to deploy to Baghdad or other areas currently
under U.S. control. ...
"British troops in Baghdad will sustain higher casualties
than in the south, will take the brunt of the uprisings caused
by U.S. misjudgment and brutality. The UK government will not
be there for you or your families when you are killed, maimed
or poisoned by depleted uranium weapons.
"Please, don't go. Please don't make yourselves complicit
with the atrocities which will undoubtedly be committed against
ordinary Iraqi people in Falluja."
Reprinted from the Nov. 4, 2004, issue of
Workers World newspaper
This article is copyright under a Creative
Commons License.
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