IRISH ANTI WAR MOVEMENT BULLETIN 15/04/03

national | miscellaneous | news report Sunday April 20, 2003 19:40 by IRISH ANTI WAR MOVEMENT - IRISH ANTI WAR MOVEMENT info at irishantiwar dot org 087-6329511

IRISH ANTI WAR MOVEMENT BULLETIN 15/04/03

IRISH ANTI WAR MOVEMENT BULLETIN 15/04/03 1.This was not a war of Liberation 2.Meetings on ‘Liberation or Occupation’ 3.Building the Anti War Movement 4.Make May Day Anti War Day. 5.National Assembly of the Irish Anti War Movement 6.G8 Summit in France – June 1st 7. IAWM Contacts

1.This was not a war of Liberation

For the last week the US/UK and much of the media have tried to sell us the lie that the people of Iraq have been liberated. The war they say has been justified by the ending of Saddam’s regime and the anti war protesters should apologise for getting it all wrong.

Nothing could be further from the truth.

The pretext for the war was that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction and represented a threat to the world. No WMDs have been found or were used except, of course, those used by the US itself against Iraqi civilians.

No link between Iraq and Al Quaida was established because none existed. Although there may well now be a large number of recruits for Bin Laden among the families and friends of the civilian victims of this war and among thousands of enraged Muslims across the world who witnessed the US slaughter.

The dictatorship of Saddam Hussein is gone and few Iraqis will mourn its passing but the US did not fight this war because they oppose dictatorship. Two of the world’s worst dictatorships, those in Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, remain close allies of the US and are under no threat of military action from the supposed champions of democracy in Washington and Landon.

The truth about this war is that it has maimed and murdered thousands of innocent civilians. There will be no celebration among the families of dead Iraqi children blown to pieces by cluster bombs and missiles. There will be no celebration for those who lost arms and legs or have been maimed for life by Bush’s war of liberation. And the victims do not stop with those affected directly by the war. A country whose health system and infrastructure had been devastated by the last war and sanctions has been further devastated ensuring there will be thousands more victims in the weeks and months to come.

The US has spent billions of dollars on destroying Iraq but has promised only a fraction of that in Aid to re-build the country.

The US military moved immediately to secure the country’s oilfields and the oil ministry in Baghdad but has stood by while hospitals, homes, libraries and museums have been looted and destroyed.

The two main figures being put forward to run Iraq give a clear indication of the priorities of the US administration for Iraq. The man to be put in charge of the country is Jay Garner, a retired army general who is on leave from his position as director of US company that produces missiles. The man advising him and likely to be put forward as the new leader of the country is Ahmed Chalabi a convicted fraudster sentenced to 22 years in prison in Jordan. He is also an associate of Dick Cheney, Paul Wolfvowitz and Richard Perle involved in the extreme right wing US think tank Project for a New American Century.

These people are being put in to set up a puppet US administration to facilitate the looting of Iraq on a scale that will make what we’ve seen on the streets of Iraqi cities over the last few days seem like a walk in the park.

The real agenda of the US led war on Iraq is further confirmed by the immediate decision of the US to cancel Iraqi oil contracts with countries like France and Russia to ensure the oil spoils of the war for the US itself.

Of course it doesn’t end there. The US is already making threatening noises to Syria and accusing them of having chemical weapons. There can be little doubt that after their military successes in Afghanistan and Iraq the US has gained the confidence to bully any state that opposes its interests with the threat of military action.

Saddam is gone but Bush’s war on anyone in the world who dares to oppose the US continues.

While that is the case those of us who opposed this war must continue to build the global movement of opposition to warmongers and militarism.

2.Meetings on ‘Liberation or Occupation’

With all the propaganda about Liberation and the war being over there will be some confusion among many of those who supported the anti war movement over the last number of months. For this reason we think it would be useful for local groups to hold public meetings an the topic “Iraq – Liberation or Occupation?” A model poster will be available on the website and people can put their own local details. Speakers from the IAWM are available for those that want them.

3.Building the Anti War Movement

The anti war movement did not stop the war but it did make the US and UK more cautious than they otherwise would have been about civilian casualties. Deaths and injuries have been enormous but the US did not engage in the sort of carpet-bombing seen in 1991 war because of the scale of opposition. Even now it is only the popular opposition to the war that is keeping pressure on the US to be seen to helping the Iraqi people. It is also this opposition that will stay the most hawkish elements of the Bush administration from moving on quickly for a war elsewhere.

For all these reasons we must work to maintain and build the IAWM. The scale of mobilizations is not likely to be as great or the tempo of events as quick over the next few weeks but we need to build the roots of the movement locally and organise around some of the key international mobilisations against war taking place over the next few months.

4.Make May Day Anti War Day.

May 1st will see mass demonstrations of workers, trade unionists and anti war activists across the world. Most of these demonstrations will have opposition to war as the main component or as a key theme.

We need to ensure that similar protests take place in all towns and cities in Ireland. In many case local trades’ council’s will be organising something anyway so we need to approach them to suggest jointly organising the event. In other places the tradition of May Day protests may have fallen away but now is good time to revive it. Again, approach the local trades council and suggest a demonstration or event. Try and get other groups and organisations like third world groups community groups and anti war political parties involved.

5.National Assembly of the Irish Anti War Movement

We are holding a major assembly in Dublin on Saturday April 26th.

This is a public event but we also want to ensure that there are representatives from anti war groups around the country. The assembly will have sessions looking at some of the key political issues coming out of the war and will also a have a major session looking at the practical issues of where the movement goes now. We hope all groups will build for this event and get as many people there as possible.

6.G8 Summit in France – June 1st

Bush, Blair and the leaders of the other G8 countries will be meeting in Evian in France on June 1st. There will be a global mobilisation to protest at this summit. numbers are likely to be anywhere between 500,000 and two million. This will be a vital opportunity to let Bush, Blair and all the warmongers know that the movement of February 15th has not gone away. The IAWM will be organising the biggest possible mobilisation to the summit from Ireland along with other groups. We appeal to all those who can to get there and mobilise in their locality for this protest. We will be discussing the mobilisation at the forthcoming National Assembly and will get material out as soon as possible.

7.ANTI WAR CONTACT INFO

NATIONAL: Athlone: 087-6329511; Carlow Anti War Movement 086-3772825; Castlebar/Westport: 098-42868; Charleville: 087-6329511; Clonakilty: 023 - 40881; Clonmel: 087-6329511; Cork Anti War Campaign: 087-1258325, [email protected] ; Dingle for Peace: 066-9155863; Dundalk: 087-9213200; Drogheda: 087-9213200; Galway: 091-521373; Donegal Alliance Against War: 086 3773913; Letterkenny: 086-3773913, [email protected] ; Maynooth College: 087-6329511; Maynooth Anti War Movement: 086-3849882 [email protected] ; Midwest Alliance against Militarism & War: 086-8228032 also contact 086 8403782 in Limerick or 087-6261679 in Shannon; Mullingar: 087-7970139, [email protected] ; Sligo: 087-6329511; Thurles: 087-6329511; Tralee Anti War Movement: 086-3176921 [email protected] ; Tullamore Anti War Movement: 087-7624327, [email protected] ; Waterford: 086-3274015 ; Westmeath: 087-7970139 or 086-1963134; Wexford: 087-2419852; Writers Against War: 01 4911529, [email protected]

DUBLIN: Ballyfermot: 087-9090166; Ballymun/Finglas: 086-3616159 or 086-3074060; Blanchardstown: 087-6273581; Bray/Wicklow: 2867980; City Centre: 087-9032281; City Centre South: 085-7158567; Dundrum: 087 6650442; Dun Laoghaire: 2304621; Dun Laoghaire IT; 087-6406431; Fairview Against War: 087 6811687; Lucan: 086 3849882; NUI Maynooth: 086 1640538 Rathmines Against War: 087-7955013; Rialto: 086-1523542; Tallaght: 086-8107508; North County Dublin: 087-2400331; Trinity: 087-7455475; UCD: 087-2839964; DCU: 087-6329511.

Other areas include: Community Workers against the war; Health workers against the war; School students against the war; Performers against the war; Surgeons against the war, Transport workers against the war and more ... contact 087-6329511 for information.

IAWM

087-6329511

IAWM E-mail

[email protected]

IAWM Website

www.irishantiwar.org