A-Infos (en) Freedom 6403 8 Feb, 2003 - Weaknesses exposed

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Over a thousand protesters gathered in the sleepy 
village of Fairford, near Swindon, on 26th January. The 
protest was called by Gloucester Weapons Inspectors 
(GWI), who turned up in force in their white overalls 
and home-made detection equipment. They were 
supported by others from as far away as Wales and 
London. With many flags and banners, they marched 
the three miles to RAF Fairford, one of three bases 
used by the USAF B2 'Stealth' bomber, and the only 
one in Europe.

Despite an earlier announcement that Fairford had 
been 'activated' for war, there was no sign of these 
American weapons of mass destruction and, apart from 
one jeep, no sign of US security personnel either. Once 
again British cops were doing the dirty work. At the 
main entrance to the base, a theatrical demand to be 
let in was made, followed by a mass die-in as a 
home-made B2 plane flew, or at least ran, amok.

There were speakers from the GWI, as well as former 
Greenham Common stalwarts Ann Pettit and Helen 
John, who called on opponents of the forthcoming war 
to buy paint and spray cans in order to take their 
message to every wall and every base in Britain. There 
were also suggestions that a peace camp could be set 
up at Fairford and that weekly demonstrations might 
be held.

Then the real fun began, as many protesters set off 
round the perimeter to test the base's defences. In 
fact, with thirteen miles of fence to patrol, there are 
many weak points where people could act virtually 
unseen. But most protesters only went a short distance 
and were soon breaching the wire, either by cutting it 
or by climbing over using thick padding.

Fifty or more got through at various times and, after 
being arrested and briefly detained, were escorted 
back out the way they'd come. There were no reports 
of damage to any military hardware. Later, there was a 
scuffle with cops near a hole in the fence and a further 
three arrests were made despite resistance from other 
protesters.

It's clear that Fairford will play a significant part in 
the American war on Iraq. It's equally clear that the 
base is far from secure, at present at least. In addition, 
the cops seem prepared to handle what's often fairly 
polite non-violent direct action Ğ but would they be 
around in sufficient numbers to counter other forms of 
intervention?
MH

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