A-Infos (en) UK, MERSEYSIDE RESISTANCE! Local Bulletin of the Anarchist Federation, Autumn 2003

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There's Blood On Your Hands As Well
So far the War On Iraq has cost the lives of up to 8,000 Iraqi civilians
and as many as 40,000 Iraqi soldiers, mostly conscripted victims of two
ruthless madmen: Bush and Saddam. Who is responsible for this carnage?
Tony Blair: Liar, Murderer, Thief
It is now clear that when Tony Blair visited Washingon in
September 2002, George Bush told him he was going to war with
or without the UN, and with or without Britain. Tony Blair had a
choice: he could either stand up, be counted and oppose the war
- as France, Germany and Russia did - or he could kowtow to
the `special relationship' and act as America's dog, barking at
anyone who opposed the rush to war. We all know what he
decided. As the Hutton Inquiry has revealed, everybody in the
intelligence services, the MoD and No.10 knew that Iraq was no
kind of threat to the West or its immediate neighbours but Tony
Blair insisted that the case for war be made in the September
dossier we have heard so much about. He made it himself, in
Parliament and in the media, at every opportunity he could. And
Blair used the entire apparatus of his odious regime to make the
case for launching an unnecessary and illegal war which he
knew would maim and kill thousands of innocent people. He has
blood on his hands and should answer for it.
The Stink Of Corruption
But why did all those well-meaning, upright civil servants go
along with it, the rational intelligence analysts, the publicly-
minded hacks and politicos ? The people we trust to govern us
wisely and in our best interests? The answer is because they are
none of these things, they are none of them fit to govern, only to
rule and rule us in their own interests. These men - and they are

mostly men - are all rich and powerful. Wedded to the use and
abuse of power, contemptuous of you, the people, the poor dumb
saps who pay your taxes and get peace of mind - and slavery -
in return. They gave the orders to produce the lies to write the
dossier to sell to the other politicians, the media, the people, to
make the case to go to war. They did it because they like to
push people's buttons, they like being in charge and because we
let them they get away with it. They too are long-range
murderers, hiring mercenaries we call the British Army to do their
killing for them. The stench coming out of the Hutton Inquiry is
the smell of corruption, the fetid slime that people like Alistair
Campbell leaves on anything he touches. They have blood on
their hands and should answer for it.

The tragedy is that we, the people, carry on believing that such
people are basically decent, that they care or that they can
govern us so much better than we could govern ourselves.
Blair's government will fall soon but you will go straight out and
elect another one. Is that all you want?
People Like You
More and more people are now saying they oppose the war, that
they wish it had never happened. People like you, perhaps. A
lot of people protest "But how could we know, we trusted the
government, we believed Tony Blair, its not our fault". Yet there
were hundreds of thousands of people actively opposing the war,
marching through the streets, organising petitions, handing out
leaflets, arguing, persuading, demonstrating. You saw us and
you turned away. You walked past and spat in our faces, waved
your fists, your faces contorted with anger and contempt. You
looked away, shrugged your shoulders, held up your shopping
bags to show you were too busy to care. You stared blankly at
our banners, hurried past our protests, cheered when the police
moved us on. When war started you gloried in it: "Kill `em all!"
you said. "Serves `em right", you sneered. "Kill the Pakis!" you
cried. Lets face it, we've got used to caring only about ourselves,
preferring to leave everything else to men and women who are
as corrupt and morally deficient as any government in history.
You listened to the politicians, the preachers, the pundits and
teachers. You listened and you believed. What you didn't do was
think. You didn't ask yourselves why. You didn't want to know
who was pulling the strings. You didn't care what happened to a
far-away people you thought deserved what they were getting.

You didn't wonder what kind of `freedom' the Iraqis would be
forced to accept. Or who would profit from it. You stood back and
let it happen. You cheered the soldiers out and mourned the
coffins home. You applauded when they stopped showing the
broken bodies and maimed children at tea-time, you wanted
video-games not severed limbs. When the history of the war is
written, what will you say you did? There's innocent blood on
your hands too. How does it make you feel?
    You see we can't escape our own responsibility for the
thousands of people who died in Iraq. We elect the governments
that go to war. We pay the taxes that buy the weapons. We
praise the young who volunteer as patriots and the soldiers who
die as heroes. Until we demand an end to government, armies
and war, we have no-one to blame but ourselves.

                Capitalism
            Its A Mad, Bad World
Capitalism is bad for people and the world but we go on voting for
it year after year. For most in the West, our cage is fairly
comfortable. So if some people dash themselves to pieces against
the bars or are `shot trying to escape', well that's their problem
isn't it? Our world really is a jungle, increasingly filled with
creatures driven mad with despair and hunger. So long as we let
it happen, our world will continue to be a terrible place to live.

Children Die In Suicide Leap
"A South Korean woman struggling with a huge credit-card debt
pushed two of her children out of a high-rise apartment window
then jumped with her youngest child in her arms. The four
deaths....underscored South Korea's rising credit card debt. The
media have reported robberies and kidnappings spurred by the
debt. A spokesman said the incident occurred while the woman's
husband was from home working as a labourer."
Debt in Britain is 130% of average household income

Tesco Tests Spy Chip Technology
Supermarket chain Tesco has admitted testing controversial
technology which tracks customers buying certain products in its
stores. The tags trigger a CCTV camera when a packet is
removed from the shelf. Manufacturers want to go a step further
and tag each individual product, enabling them to track
customers as they move from shop to shop. That information
can be traded to other retailers or even passed to the
government to follow you around wherever you go.
But then if you're not guilty of anything, why worry?

Hunting For Bambi
"If you enjoy the feeling of wet paint splattering against your
naked body (frankly, who doesn't?), you'll love Hunting For
Bambi. The hot new `craze' in Las Vegas sees fully-clothed
gentlemen getting their kicks firing paintballs at women clad in
nothing but a pair of trainers. Hunting For Bambi is "every man's
sexual fantasy come true" said a clinical psychologist".
The fastest-growing parts of the entertainment industry are strip-
and lap-dancing clubs. After all, it's a job any woman can do,
isn't it?

Mothers For Sale
Feminism's dirty secret is the racist exploitation of millions of
dark-skinned women as nannies, cooks and maids. The
successful Western woman stands on the shoulders of an army
of domestic slaves, unseen and underpaid. The traditional roles
of women, rejected in the West, are "now being filled by wickedly-
treated other mothers. Their love is bought, they give everything
to the children and yet they are often sacked on a whim."
Capitalism exploits every last drop of blood of the weak,
wherever they are, whatever they have to sell. Servants are the
latest style accessory as the rich get richer and the poor do what
they can and as they're told.
Is this why we are born, to be someone else's slave, to clean up
their mess for a fiver an hour?

Your arms, My Foot
A little Iraqi boy has both arms blown off in the war, is a nine-day
wonder in the press, treated like royalty and whisked to Britain for
specialist care and new arms. A black woman in Berkshire has
her foot amputated and is told the hospital only provides white
prosthetics free of charge. Get her a journalist, quick!
Our NHS, or just another private business?
  Capitalism: You vote for it every year and
           you pay with the rest of your life

     Iraq Warmonger In Liverpool Soon
The Merseyside Stop the War Coaliton has learnt that David
Blunkett and his Home Office team are visiting Liverpool on
September 10th. They will be starting their day in Norris Green,
probably at the Boot Estate. Blunkett et al will be pushing the line
of clamping down on anti-social behavior and how people in the
area are `benefiting' (yeah, sure!) from regeneration investment.
As one of Blair's leading warmongers and xenophobes, Blunkett
needs to be met and confronted, good style. The Stop The War
Coalition are calling a protest on Sept 10th and are hoping for a
big turnout on the day from trade unionists, asylum campaigners,
tenant activists etc. Bring your banners, whistles and whatever
else feels right. For more details contact Stop The War at
merseyside@stopwar.org.uk See you there!


              September 27th
        Our Chance To Get Rid Of Blair
Plans are being laid for demonstrations throughout the country -
and especially London - to protest the continuing occupation of
Iraq and the systematic rape of the country by US corporations
working for the occupying powers. This is our chance to let Blair
know he is not off the hook and that there IS a price to be paid
for the bloody mayhem he has inflicted on the world. Watch for
details in the usual places or go to Merseyside@stopwar.org.uk.
We can kill this government dead with a massive turnout. Buy
your coach tickets early and buy often.

   Councils Clamp Down On Basic Freedoms
You've probably wandered past the anti-war stalls in the city
centre, the regular picket against the occupation of Palestine
outside Marks & Spencer's. The freedom to protest, whatever
our views, is one of the things we think makes Britain better than
the rest of the world. What you may not have heard about are
the campaigns of harassment inflicted on such protests by local
authorities, including our own. Standing in the street is
`obstruction'. Handing out leaflets `littering'. Shouting slogans is
`public disorder'. Now 2 people in Manchester have been
summonsed to appear in court for obstruction and flyposting by
the Council's Licensing Department, trying to protect the
commercial interests of a major corporation. M&S is being
picketed locally. How long before arrests start happening in
Liverpool? Iraqi freedom? We could do with some here!


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