A-Infos (en) resistance anti-war special edition. Britain and Ireland.

["E W" <nastyned@email.com>]

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WAR AGAINST WAR
Since the 1950s, North American warlords, usually accompanied by their 
pet poodles in Westminster and Whitehall, have intervened against 
various factions of the ruling elite in the Middle East. Squabbling 
over the oil that lies under the desert sands.
Not that ?America? needs the oil, most petrol consumed in the United 
States does not come from the Middle East, and most of America - the 
ordinary working people, have about as much say in U.S. foreign policy 
as the ordinary working people of Iraq have in policies of their 
government. A big chunk of the profits of oil corporations is, however, 
dependent on relations with the oil-producing states.

The Billion Dollar Question
The question isn?t what happens to the oil, it?s what happens to the 
profits? 

For the ruling Western elite this is an important issue. If they 
circulate back into the Western-dominated world economic system, then 
all well and good for Bush, Blair and the capitalists they represent.  
This usualy happens. The non-Western oil producing states fill the 
coffers of the multinationals by buying fighter planes and other 
armaments. However, if it is used to develop native industrial 
capitalism, as Hussein, Nasser, Bin Laden, Khomeni and the like aimed 
at, beneath the cloak of nationalism or religion, the problems start 
for ?our? rulers.

Not only does this lead to lost profits for them but it also leads to 
the development of a new rival to their monopoly of economic and state 
power.

So what they are fighting for is the right to exploit and we should 
only support the war effort if we want to support our own exploitation 
and if we want to continue to see but a fraction of the wealth we 
create return to us in wages.

It?s not a million miles away
The British government?s own estimate is that the war will cost £5 
billion. Every pound of tax payers? money that is spent on obliterating 
the people of Iraq, every pound that has been spent over the course of 
the last 12 years doing just that, could have been spent on the health 
service, could have been spent on the fire service, could have be spent 
on social welfare. And this is not just a minor thing. Poor public 
services KILL. 

Nor is the battlefield confined to far off deserts. It stretches across 
the world, from New York, to Moscow, to Bali. While the Al Qaida - Iraq 
link has no substance outside the day dreams of Dubya?s scriptwriters, 
we have no doubt they will use the opportunity presented to them by the 
invasion of Iraq to build their organisation. 

All the deaths and injuries inflicted in this war are the 
responsibility of all sides. We don?t think the planes on S11 just 
popped out of the sky with no relationship to the previous 50 odd years 
of American military intervention in the Middle East, nor do we think 
the people of Iraq have much to thank Hussein for other than 22 years 
of war. 

We think anyone who blames ?Americans? needs to wise up, we?ll start 
blaming the cleaners in American office blocks the day they start 
sending armies to Saudi Arabia, likewise with anyone who thinks Bin 
Laden represents some kind of uprising of the poor and oppressed. If we 
were as poor as Bin Laden we would be doing well. 
The truth is there are two sides - the working class, the soldiers in 
all armies, builders in Baghdad or office workers in London, against 
the ruling class consisting of officers in all armies, war mongering 
multi-millionaire scum bags like Bin Laden or Bush.
---

WHAT CAN WE DO?

An unnamed US defence official recently admitted to USA Today newspaper 
that the timing of an invasion had slipped from mid-February to the end 
of February or early March due to logistical problems in shifting a 
huge land, sea and air force.

Bases across Europe are the lines of supply to feed the war machine in 
the Middle East. Demilitarise them and the capacity of that war machine 
to go to work is seriously impaired.

See the back page for upcoming direct actions and demonstrations 
against military bases. Nothing going on in your area? Then form your 
own anti-war group and get organising. Read the reports of anti-war 
actions inside this paper. There are no limits to what can be done!
---

ON THE FRONTLINE

We?re happy to report that 2003 has picked up where 2002 left off with 
continuing worker resistance, including the possibility of a new wave 
of strikes in the car industry - which has long been claimed as a 
?strike-free? area by the bosses.

The Fire-fighters have gone back on the offensive after the cooling-off 
period over the holidays. 55,000 workers held another 24-work stoppage 
on 21 January and are now threatening to hold further 48-hour strikes 
over the coming weeks -  unless the FBU manages to pull the rug from 
under them - the ?leaders? are showing clear signs of wavering, happy 
to use ACAS to discuss an 11% offer previously rejected. The strike has 
noticeably developed from being over a wage increase to one that is 
essentially about jobs - the modernisation plans that the fire-fighters 
have rejected would mean a loss of 4,500 jobs - the union officials 
should be pushing this, not back-pedalling.

Workers at the Peugeot and Nissan car factories in Coventry and 
Sunderland are close to striking. Both are pay disputes, the companies 
making annual offers below what is average in the industry, as the 
factories are in high-unemployment areas. The return of industrial 
action in an industry which was once a hotbed of working class 
resistance is a welcome sign that people are increasingly not going to 
let the bosses walk all over them anymore.

Bus drivers in Norwich held a weeklong strike early in January over 
unacceptable changes in working practices,
In Ireland, construction workers have taken part in a series of wildcat 
strikes in response to attempts to undermine their safety conditions 
and wages through the use of ?black-market? workers. At the minute, the 
action is mainly limited to Limerick but there are signs that the 
trouble could spread to other counties. 

In Italy recently, a similar dispute occurred on the railways, and the 
?black -market? workers also went out on strike - something to bear in 
mind.

In Europe, dockworkers blocked a number of ports in Belgium and Finland 
in protest at EU proposals that threaten jobs - potentially this could 
be a very important struggle in the coming months. Italian pilots and 
flight attendants also struck in a dispute over safety.

Finally a success story: the workers at Friction Dynamex who had held a 
two-year long picket outside their factory won their case against the 
company, holding a victory parade through Caernarfon and were cheered 
on by 1,500 locals.
---

ON THE ATTACK

>From the Autumn of 2001 to the Autumn of 2002 there have been at least 
half a dozen massive anti-war demonstrations in central London, not to 
mention protests marches where there have never been protest marches 
before, the largest anti-war demonstration in Glasgow ever. Are you 
listening Tony Blair? Well is he? It is time to go on the offensive, it 
is time to start inflicting a cost, it is time to stop asking nicely, 
it is time to stop playing by their rules. The following are some 
beginnings:
October, 02: Over 100 anti-war demonstrators took part in a mass 
trespass in the runway grounds of Shannon airport, a civilian airport 
in the West of Ireland which is being used for re-fuelling by the U.S. 
military. 

November, 02: Walthamstow anarchists re-decorated their local 
Territorial Army base, and an anti-war mob invaded the Confederation of 

British Industry Conference in Manchester.
Night time, 8/12/02: ?The Armed Forces recruitment office in central 

Bristol was attacked. All windows were smashed, locks  glued and walls 

splattered with blood-red paint.  ?NO WAR?  was the spray-paint 

message...This is direct action against state terrorism and social 

control...Pick your targets and fight back. Anyone can take direct 

action...?
Women with bolt croppers, 14/12/02: ?We, the Women with Bolt Croppers 

claim responsibility for breaking into US spy base Menwith Hill in 

Yorkshire and destroying their devices for intercepting radio 

communications...we made our way through fields and fog and rain to the 

fence of the base...No alarms sounded, no-one came to challenge us...We 

walked to our target unhindered. Armed with just a pair of bolt 

croppers and a hammer we set about our task of causing hundreds of 

thousands of pounds worth of damage to the US listening devices...It 

was easy! ... Imagine the power we would have if just 1% of the people 

on the last anti-war demo decided to take their opposition to the war a 

step further...?
RAF Fairford, 8/12/02: Over 500 anti-war demonstrators went to Fairford 

in Gloucestershire. RAF Fairford is one of only three B-2 Stealth 

bomber forward bases in the world. The first wave of attacks on Iraq 

will most likely be carried out by Stealth bombers flying from Fairford 

and Diego Garcia. Some people entered the base ?
8/01/03: Scottish train drivers refuse to carry ammunition for the war.
11/01/03: Anti-War demonstrations disrupt US Air Force-run military 

base in Norfolk, same day, blockade of Naval base at Portsmouth.
Actions on January 18/19: In Northwood Strategic Command Military Base 

north west of London. 150 demonstrators took photos of the British 

military HQ - illegal under the official secrets act, and the next day 

the base was blockaded by hundreds. There was a wide cross-section of 

people showing the widespread resistance to war. 

At U.S. Airbase at Mildenhall fifteen anti-war protesters got on to on 

the base?s main runway after breaking through a perimeter fence. 

Together with nearby Lakenheath, it is among the biggest U.S. airbases 

outside the United States mainland. Aviators from both bases have seen 

action in most major conflicts involving the US in recent years. 

A group of activists from the Cardiff Anarchist Network chained 

themselves together to block one of the busiest roads in Cardiff, as 

part of the global protests against war in Iraq. The blockade took 

place during an anti-war march through the city centre bringing the 

march to an abrupt halt and causing traffic chaos. Other marchers 

responded by holding an unplanned sit-down protest in support. 
The Anarchists said that they resorted to direct action because the 

government finds it so easy to ignore traditional marches and protests. 

?400,000 people marched through London and no-one took the slightest 

bit of notice. The government doesn?t give a damn about the views of 

the ordinary person in the street. If the anti-war movement is going to 

have any impact whatsoever it has to move to direct action and civil 

disobedience, it has to involve people in active opposition to the war 

and government machine, it has to get people to take back control of 

what?s being done in their name.?

In San Francisco an anarchist bloc of two thousand broke away from a 

permitted march of 200,000. The British Consulate and the Immigration 

and Naturalisation Service  offices were re-decorated, and the police 

constantly outwitted.
 

---

MESSAGE TO THE SOLDIERS

So what is to be made of the discovery dozens of phials of anthrax 

vaccine found washed up on a south coast beach a few days after the 

departure of a Royal Navy Task Force bound for the Gulf from a nearby 

port?  Gulf War Syndrome, according to the US and UK governments and 

military, does not exist. This is especially so when it is claimed to 

be caused by military vaccines. Seems that some troops bound for the 

Gulf beg to differ. For those still in doubt of the reality of Gulf War 

Syndrome and as a way of showing just how much the state cares about 

?our boys?, the following words which are all from British and US 

military personnel who served in the first Gulf War serve as a stark 

warning. 
M Morris - ?We were given all kinds of shots, exposed to depleted 

uranium, oil well fire smoke, etc... One day in January 1991 the entire 

company was lined up. We were ordered to take ?secret? shots, we signed 

non-disclosure forms, and the corpsmen were ordered NOT to enter the 

shots in our record books. I started experiencing a lot of the symptoms 

of ?Gulf War Syndrome? within a year or so of returning to the 

states?The VA denied my claim for muscle and joint pain, shortness of 

breath and problems walking. They did however approve me for a 10% 

disability on the basis of the brain damage they found in an MRI. 

Funny, I didn?t have it before the war?Couldn?t have been the ?secret 

shots? or anything, you think?? 
Andy Vincent - ?...after the fighting was over I was responsible for 

preparing this equipment for its return back to the UK...Many of them 

that had been used in the field came back to me filled with dust from 

all over Kuwait and Iraq...I left the RAF in 1994, it wasn?t until 1996 

that I had my first emergency trip into hospital?I wake in the mornings 

feeling like I?m 75 not 42. All this and a memory that don?t work 

properly?I think the worse part of being a victim of Gulf War Syndrome 

is the not knowing, not knowing what the cause is, not knowing what?s 

yet to come, and being powerless to do anything about it.?
Aaron Kidwell - ?Two months [after the war] it started. I had noticed 

that since I had returned, it was difficult for me to breathe when we 

would do PT (physical training)?I was 19 years old. These ?attacks? 

became more and more frequent and their intensity was frightening. My 

joints also became tender. I became quite irritable, and later angry. 

In the years since, I?ve been diagnosed with PTSD, depressive disorder 

with paranoid traits, fibromyalgia, anxiety disorder, irritable bowel 

syndrome, alcoholism, and simply accused of lying?I now have little 

faith in our government, no faith in the institution that is our 

military, and am deeply suspicious of military doctors. I will trust 

them only as far as I can throw them?I do think that there is a Gulf 

War Syndrome. I do think that thousands have gone through similar 

experiences and have suffered for it. I do think that most, like 

myself, have given up hope that anything will ever be done to help us. 

The government knows what happened, but those that are willing to help 

are outnumbered and their voices silenced.? 
William Cotton - ?I was given a couple of ?vaccinations? during the 

lead-up to the air war?Since leaving the military my memory problems 

have increased and that frightens me?I once held the American military 

in high regard and was the most gung-ho of my colleagues in uniform. 

Today I?m angry and bitter with those who once called me their friends 

who have now deserted me?I?ve since found that I?m not alone in that 

sort of treatment either?We should all stand together, because no one 

else will help us. We are on our own.?



---


WHATEVER HAPPENED TO AFGHANISTAN?

A year ago the war camp talked about defeating terrorism and liberating 

the women of Afghanistan while the anti-war camp talked about pipelines 

through Afghanistan for oil and gas fields. 
Well leaving ?defeating terrorism? to one side (nobody seriously argues 

it did that!), according to a recent Human Rights Watch report: ?As of 

December 2002, the U.S. and coalition military forces in Afghanistan 

are continuing to pursue a strategy of entrusting general security and 

policing to local forces with terrible records on women?s rights.?
Meanwhile PakNews.com 
reports  on December 28, 2002: ?Pakistan, Afghanistan and Turkmenistan 

on Friday signed here a framework agreement for a US $ 3.2 billion gas 

pipeline project passing through the three countries. 
?According to a study by Asian Development Bank (ADB), the 1460 km 

pipeline would use gas reserves at Dauletabad fields in Turkmenistan, 

which has world?s fifth largest reserves, while passing through 

Afghanistan into Pakistan.?


---


TIME BOMB

Continuing our regular look at history:

Mutiny: A Noble Tradition

In January 1991 the Iraqi army fought well against the enemy, by 

refusing to fight the Allies (not one Allied soldier was killed by 

Iraqi fire), by deserting the front line in droves, and by returning 

home and turning their guns on their government.  
Soon Iraq was in the grip of revolution, and the effective authority of 

the state reduced to the central region around Baghdad.
The reaction of the U.S. Government and it?s allies: 

* Thousands of deserting troops were massacred on the road to Basra by 

the USAF and RAF.
* A ceasefire was then made with the Iraqi regime, all thoughts of 

overthrowing Saddam forgotten, and crucially the elite Republican Guard 

left intact to crush the uprising. 
 * As part of the truce Iraqi counter-insurgency helicopters were 

allowed into the ?no fly zones? controlled by the American and British 

airforces.

In 1917 and 1918 the Russian, German and Austro-Hungarian Empires 

crumbled and the First World War was brought to an end as the common 

soldiers refused to fight. Also in 1917 massive mutiny made the French 

Army unable to take offensive action.
After both the First and Second World Wars mutiny and demands for 

demobilisation in the armed forces left the British Empire unable to 

effectively combat internal rebellions.
Following W.W.1 demob. unemployed ex-soldiers rioted across Britain, 

after W.W. 2 they forged a powerful squatting movement in the face of 

chronic homelessness. 
During the later stages of the Vietnam war, as a U.S. Officer wrote at 

the time, ?By every conceivable indicator, our army that now remains in 

Vietnam is in a state approaching collapse, with individual units 

avoiding or having refused combat, murdering their officers and non 

commissioned officers, drug-ridden, and dispirited where not near 

mutinous.? 
Today, over 500 Israeli soldiers are refusing to serve in the occupied 

territories. 


---

Anarchist Federation online:
British site: www.afed.org.uk
Irish site: www.afireland.cjb.net


---


PRISON RESISTANCE

About 80 prisoners fought back against the regime at Shotts 

maximum-security prison in Lanarkshire, Scotland. The 19-hour rebellion 

began on the 2 of January when prisoners refused to return to the 

cells. A number of small fires were started and three screws were 

hospitalised. The prison authorities have used drug sniffer dogs, drug 

detecting equipment, monitoring of phone calls and CCTV as part of a 

crackdown. Some prisoners succeeded in getting onto the roof and 

shouting could be heard inside the jail. Flags were waved from the 

windows and a banner demanding ?leave our visitors alone? was also 

visible. The revolt was suppressed when van loads of riot cops and 

screws stormed the jail. Prisoners in Shotts jail have fought back 

several times in the recent past.

Prison Labour Conference: To establish a campaign against prison 

labour. Leeds, starts 12 noon. Tel:  07944 522 001


---


CLASS WAR NOT RACE WAR

With the news that two of the six suspected Algerian terrorists caught 

up in the ?ricin plot? were asylum seekers, the press wasted no time in 

spinning into nationalist, anti-asylum seeker propaganda overdrive. But 

what the government and ?their? media seem to be forgetting is that the 

only myth is the ?bogus? asylum seeker.
The main sources of refugees are Palestine, Somalia, Afghanistan, 

Ethiopia and Eastern Europe with people making potentially tragic 

journeys to Britain. Not because Britain gives the most benefits, but 

because life in their ?home? country is simply intolerable. What the 

media fail to mention is the conditions endured by the refugees that 

try and get here - they die from suffocation in trucks; from 

minefields; from stowing away in undercarriages and freezing or 

falling; or from drowning in shark infested seas. Without a doubt, all 

would have preferred not to have had to leave home and familiar 

surroundings in the first place. 
It is estimated that some four million annually are smuggled world-wide 

by ruthless entrepreneurs who have developed sophisticated methods of 

relieving desperate people of the little money they have. If 

?customers? arrive alive at their hoped for destinations, in order to 

clear debts to the traffickers, they risk being forced into 

prostitution, organ donation, slavery or forced marriage. 
What is needed is for people to recognise that it is the ruling 

classes, whatever their nationality, that take from society and leave 

us, the working classes, whatever our colour, with nothing but 

destruction. The only way out of this mess is for the working classes 

to unite and fight for a decent life for all - to smash the state and 

capitalism and to organise our lives and communities according to 

everyone?s needs.  Don?t let the authorities divide and rule us!

---


Subvert and resist 

Take precautions when going on demonstrations and don?t take cameras, 

booze or drugs. If you?re nicked give your name and address then say 

?no comment? to any other questions.

FEBRUARY: 8 - Mass die-in 1pm Bournemouth Square. Tel: 07743 537 043
8  - Worthing against War 1pm - Gathering in Montague Place with 

banners and speakers 2pm -March to war memorial, Chapel Road. 

worthingagainstwar@yahoo.co.uk
14-18 - Actions organised by Faslane peace camp including action 

against a Labour party war conference in Glasgow. Tel 01436 820901 

faslanepeacecamp@hotmail.com
15 - Don?t Attack Iraq demonstration in London from 1pm. Meet at 

Embankment.
15 - Anti-war march and rally in Glasgow. Meet 10am on Glasgow Green.
MARCH: 1 -  demonstration against military re-fuelling at Shannon 

airport. Visit: www.indymedia.ie Transport: Dublin Tel: 0877 939 931 or 

Email ggantiwar@yahoo.com, Galway Tel: 0861 682 416 or Email: 

galwaytoshannon@yahoo.com, Belfast Email: 

anarcho_syndicalist_federation@hotmail.com
To join a discussion list for the non-hierarchical anti-war movement in 

Ireland send a blank Email to:  gg-antiwar-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
22 - Demonstration outside Fairford USAF base. Email: 

james@venables.plus.com
22 - Action at Menwith Hill Base. Tel: 07905 913 139 or Email: 

mail@now-peace.org.uk 
If war breaks out check out: 

http://www.schnews.org.uk/pap/ifwarbreaksout.htm for details of events 

planned for your area.

 
---

Join the resistance

The Anarchist Federation is an organisation of class struggle 

anarchists aiming to 
abolish capitalism and all oppression to 
create a free and equal society. This is 
Anarchist Communism. 
We see today?s society as being divided into two main opposing classes: 

the ruling class which controls all the power and wealth, and the 

working class which the rulers exploit to maintain this. By racism, 

sexism and other forms of oppression, as well as war and environmental 

destruction the rulers weaken and divide us. Only the direct action of 

working class people can defeat these attacks and ultimately overthrow 

capitalism. 
As the capitalist system rules the whole world, its destruction must be 

complete and world wide. We reject attempts to reform it, such as 

working through parliament and 
national liberation movements, as they fail to challenge capitalism 

itself. Unions also work as a part of the capitalist system, so 

although workers struggle within them they will be unable to bring 

about capitalism?s destruction unless they go beyond these limits. 
Organisation is vital if we?re to beat 
the bosses, so we work for a united 
anarchist movement and are affiliated to the International of Anarchist 

Federations.
The Anarchist Federation has members across Britain and Ireland 

fighting for the kind of world outlined above.  Contact us at:

Anarchist Federation, 
84B, Whitechapel High Street, 
London,  E1 7QX. Tel: 07946 214 590
Visit: www.afed.org.uk
Email: anarchistfederation@bigfoot.com

---

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