Lies And War Crimes By Michelle Dee

The words "weapons of mass destruction" were noticeably absent from the speech by George W. Bush on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion. The apocalyptic rhetoric used to firstly motivate the political will then move the might of the military forces was replaced by talk of regime change and removing Saddam Hussein from power. It is illegal to go to war in order to effect regime change. It is blatantly clear that the argument for this country to go to war was built on a thin tissue of lies, misinformation and pure fabrication.

He claimed tactical successes and spoke of victory. Ridiculously and factually incorrect he claimed that the so called "surge" of armed forces had resulted in an Arab uprising against al Qaeda. Anyone who has any knowledge about the situation knows that al Qaeda moved into Iraq because of the power vacuum created after the initial invasion. There was little or no thought as to the rebuilding of Iraq and establishing lasting peace and no exit strategy which meant the country became a battle ground as rival factions fought and bombed their way to the negotiations table.

Today over 75% of the population are facing a humanitarian crisis with no access to clean water, medical facilities or a reliable power supply. Bush is directly at odds with Obama and Clinton, insisting that the troops will stay to finish the job rather than stage a climb down and withdraw. U.S. Govt. has admitted they were wrong in saying that the insurgency would be short lived and both U.S. and the U.K. grossly underestimated the cost of action against Iraq, both in lost lives and financial terms.

Lastly over the past twenty four months there has been a steady build up of forces in the Afghanistan particularly in the lawless Helmand province. Initially the troops were told their remit was to support existing forces in fighting the illegal drugs and arms trade, to gather intelligence against the drug barons and warlords and halt the flow of narcotics out of the country. The money from which this trade was suspected of funding terrorist activities globally so broadly speaking this action comes under the banner fighting the war on terror.

More recently this action has become direct assaults on al Qaeda strongholds and less and less about stabilizing a country in which operations had only just ended. We have been lied to by Blair and Bush, they never were granted the second U.N. resolution, they have between them increased the threat of terrorist attacks in the world and yet they carry on ignoring the voice of the people. The prevalent attitude seems to be they won't listen to us we can't fight them, so we'll just roll over. All turning a blind eye. Become involved in the latest reality show or soap story. Apathy will destroy any chance of change in this country.

Yet Tibetan monks stand up and fight against the Chinese who seek to gloss over their atrocious human rights record. The Chinese Govt. has refused to grant Tibet even partial autonomy, and during Brown's recent visit to China the issues surrounding human rights were not even discussed. The Dalai Llama is visiting our country soon and it is only today after considerable pressure that Gordon Brown has agreed to meet him for talks. As for the Olympic torch being carried through Tibet and to the summit of Mount Everest, that just adds gross insult to injury. www.stopthewar.org.uk www.studentstopwar.org.uk www.downingstreetmemo.com

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Current Affairs - Global Protests Demonstrate 15 March 2008 Trafalgar Square, London, Troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan Don't attack Iran End the siege of Gaza with Photo Gallery by Mo

On Saturday 15 March, I went to the Stop the War Coalition joined with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the British Muslim Initiative in calling a national demonstration in London, as part of the worldwide day of protest against George Bush's wars on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion, when there will be demonstrations from Washington to Beirut, from Sydney to Seoul. Police in London Read more...

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