Action Update
news
issue 86 november 2002

Iraq Attack
From a sanctions-breaker

“As we find ourselves on the verge of another Gulf War it’s easy to forget that the first never ended for the people of Iraq. Twelve years of economic sanctions have compounded the effects of the 1991 war, condemning an entire population to poverty and suffering. According to UNICEF, over 500,000 under-fives have died as a consequence of sanctions.
A dilapidated infrastructure resulted from Allied bombing, and has remained in an appalling state because sanctions deny both physical commodities and economic resources. The result: undrinkable water and raw sewage backing up into peoples’ homes, in a country which had British-standard sanitary systems a decade ago. Obesity, once the most common complaint in child health problems, is now replaced by poverty and starvation. 800,000 children under the age of five are chronically malnourished, according to the World Food Program.
The biggest child killer in Iraq over the last twelve years has been diarrhoea and other water contamination related diseases. I’ve watched as young children walked barefoot through human waste in Basra, seen four month old babies dying in front of their mother’s eyes as a result of wasting from diarrhoea.
The Security Council Panel on Humanitarian Issues said in March 1999, “even if not all suffering in Iraq can be imputed to external factors, especially sanctions, the Iraqi people would not be undergoing such deprivations in the absence of the prolonged measures imposed by the Security Council and the effects of war.'
Denis Halliday and Hans von Sponeck, both former UN Humanitarian co-ordinators, resigned in protest at the sanction regimes, which they’ve called “failed” and “genocidal”.
The humanitarian impact of a war on Iraq under these conditions would be catastrophic, condemning an already suffering nation. A Pentagon administrative officer warned President Clinton in 1998 that the pre-cursor attack plan to Desert Fox would as a “medium case scenario” result in the deaths of 10,000. If, as in 1991, the attacks targeted vital civilian infrastructure, it would be “an attack on children’s ability to survive” according to Save the Children, and a worse scenario than that above.
According to a UNICEF representative in Iraq, if military action interrupts the distribution of the monthly food ration, which most households in Iraq have an “almost total dependency” upon, it would result in “famine on a large scale.” UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has stated that the collapse of the electrical sector could “potentially dwarf all other difficulties [so far] endured by the Iraqi people.”

The Bush/Blair ‘dossier of evidence’ provided nothing but conjecture. There are 23 million people in Iraq, the warmest, most loving, compassionate people I’ve ever had the privilege of meeting. With children already dying at epidemic proportions we have to do everything possible to prevent adding to this already fatal cocktail. A war on Iraq would be a gross violation of international law, of decency, of morality and of any democratic process in Britain, with the majority of people across the political divide opposed to a war in Iraq.”
Voices in the Wilderness has been running a postal sanctions breaking campaign for some time. People send small packages of medicines or toys to Iraq without applying for an export licence, and use their action as a means of getting the local media to cover the issue. This is a breach of the law on sanctions, and should not be undertaken without due consideration! Contact Voices for a pack, including details of where/what to send, and legal ramifications. Voices UK, 5 Caledonian Road, King's Cross, London N1 9DX, 0845 458 2564, http://www.viwuk.freeserve.co.uk/

Spy base blockade
– sabotage the war effort!
24th October: 5am: Around 20 protestors locked themselves to the gates of Menwith Hill US Spy Base, Yorkshire. The blockade lasted 4½ hours, hitting three scheduled shift changes. Around 1000 staff were turned away on arrival and the base was reduced to essential services only. No arrests were made.
Menwith Hill is a US spy base, monitoring communications in Europe and the Middle East. It is central to intelligence gathering in the so-called ‘War against Terror’ and a key base for the global spy system Echelon. The base is actually US territory, US intelligence officers and military work there as well as support personnel from the UK - in all 3,000 people. It is being used to identify targets in Iraq and will be used to co-ordinate bombings when they start.
The action was a massive success. The main gate at Menwith is under construction so access is through two side gates. These, and a disused rear gate, were shut by activists, leaving the base almost completely shut down. The US military even came to have a look - something unheard of at Menwith, they usually stay well away.
This is just the beginning… The US and British governments are making war in our names. We need to build an active resistance movement and sabotage their war effort. Indifference is not an option!

Anti-war actions
October 2: the trial of 2 people charged with criminal damage at the Atomic Weapons Establishment at Aldermaston was postponed after the prosecution failed to produce evidence that the site, near Reading, had ever been licensed to produce nuclear weapons. The defence lawyer stated that, under the Anti-Terrorism, Crime and Security Act of 2001, anyone "possessing or producing" a nuclear weapon is "guilty of an offence," and "liable of conviction to life imprisonment" - unless, under Section 48 of the Act, such possession or production has been authorised by the Secretary of State. Aldermaston has, so far, been unable to produce such authorisation. Pre-trial hearings have been set for a later date.
Ireland, 19th August: activists were arrested at Shannon Airport after protesting its use for fuelling US military aircraft on their way to Europe and the Middle East, often carrying weapons like ‘daisycutter’ bombs designed to ‘clear’ spaces 600m wide of all living beings. Gardai later told activists that they ‘didn’t know the half’ of what went on at the airport at night, and said that jets had recently passed through which even security personnel were not allowed to approach.
Activists disrupted an army promotion and recruitment event at Horseguards Parade in London which also included the charity Stroke Awareness working closely on a joint scheme, using army fitness trainers to promote exercise. The activists “tried to point out what appears to be the contradiction in: ‘Get fit and go kill people’ – or - ‘Get fit and go kill other people's children’ - Or - ‘Get fit then go and get killed’. ‘Get fit then watch out for the Depleted Uranium’ would have been even more to the point.”

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