Berkhamsted

Stop the War

CHAIN FOR PEACE : 11pm outside Berkhamsted Civic Centre on Saturday 8th March

IF WAR BREAKS OUT : If this happens we shall gather at 6pm ...............outside Berkhamsted Civic centre

 

BOMBING MOSLEMS IS REALLY GOING TO HELP,

ISN'T IT ?

 

The roots of terror - and September 11th - lie in the mistrust that exists between nations, and the perception that Western Powers are hostile to Islam and self-interested in their execution of foreign policy.

The vast majority of British People have no quarrel with either Islam or the ordinary people of Iraq, and are adamant that foreign policy towards Iraq should be pursued through the United Nations, in a spirit of morality and commitment to promote justice and development throughout the Middle East.

Tony Blair - ignoring repeated opinion polls that show 90% of the people he supposedly serves want to operate within UN mandates - continues to press the case for war alongside George Bush, even if that War occurs unilaterally and outside the constraints of the International community.

In defence of his case (and in defiance of the people) he has argued that there is a crucial link between Iraq and Al-Qaida, an argument which even his own intelligence services doubt.

The argument goes that if we don't attack Iraq soon (within weeks) then our nation may face grave danger from terrorist action.

The profound illogicality of his case is apparent to the large majority of British People who he simply hasn't convinced.

To most rational British people, it is obvious that the act of attacking a Moslem country may indeed lead to the very retaliation that he claims to be trying to stop!

If you bomb a Moslem country, you make your own country far more liable to attack from Islamic extremists, for whom Blair's actions will provide the ideal justification.

Not only is Britain a much softer target than the US, but by acting in defiance of mainstream European opinion, it lays itself open to punitive action by terrorists. In the mindset of the terrorists, Britain is acting unjustly and courting confrontation.

The irony is that ordinary British people - families, young people, the Church, the Unions - want a measured resolution to the crisis just as much as the public in countries like France and Germany.

Yet Tony Blair is prepared to ignore the will of the people, and expose this nation to the threat of increased terrorist action, which must surely follow from his readiness to bomb moslems - in defiance of the International Community, in defiance of his own community - simply because he feels "he knows better".

The truth is that a headlong rush into War against Iraq will precipitate the very terror threats that most sane people want to avert.

Does Tony Blair seriously think that if Iraq is "taken out" then the terrorists will not be able to operate from scores of other countries? Does he think that germ warfare and the capacity to develop dirty bombs is limited to help from Iraq? Is he really prepared to wage war on country after country in pursuit of terrorists who are, in fact, almost certainly here in our own country?

Bombing a Moslem country - against the wishes and best judgement of most nations and peoples - is an incredibly dangerous action in this volatile age.

We seek to stop a handful of maniacs oppressing us. But in doing so, we oppress millions of others, using American economic power to cajole, to enforce, to insist.

By allying with George Bush, our politicians are exposing us to extreme danger of retaliation - us, our children, our friends.

The People of Britain do not support this unmandated war.

But we are bringing upon ourselves the very acts of terrorism which are used as a pretext for our attack. For the eradication of Saddam Hussain will most certainly do nothing to stop the cells of terrorists in scores of other countries.

By bombing Moslems - in defiance of the International community - we will be inviting catastrophic terrorist actions on ourselves.

That is the realpolitik. Because that is the logic of the terrorist mind, a logic which feeds on a sense of injustice.

Because our politicians lead us into premature war, we become the targets of a far more lethal war. They identify us - against our will - with the radical regime of George Bush. This coming war is not a war we can watch from the safety of our armchairs at home.

This is a war which is coming to our own communities. It is the outcome of intransigence and dogma. The people of this country have made it clear that they favour a far more measured and gradual approach. They are in line with public opinion across Europe.

But we - all of us - become the targets of an enemy which regards us as unjust.

We are at the beginning of the terrorist age. We are not at the end of it. There is no place for gung-ho politics or the outmoded militarism of bygone years.

To rush into war against public and international opinion is a catastrophic error. There has to be more consensus and more reason. Not just our own country, but all countries, stand to suffer if leaders adopt a culture of fear and confrontation instead of working together on shared platforms for a better, safer, and more just world.

As we said at the top...

BOMBING MOSLEMS IS REALLY GOING TO HELP,

ISN'T IT ?