Home > STOP THE WAR BEFORE IT STARTS - EMERGENCY PROTEST THIS SAT JAN 28

STOP THE WAR BEFORE IT STARTS - EMERGENCY PROTEST THIS SAT JAN 28

by London - Open-Publishing - Thursday 26 January 2012
1 comment

Hands off Iran and Syria
2 - 4pm, US Embassy
Grosvenor Square
London W1K 2

Called by Stop the War Coalition.

Supported by UNITE the Union, War on Want, Palestine Solidarity Campaign,
Campaign against Sanctions and Military Intervention on Iran, Friends of
Al-Aqsa, Goldsmiths Student Union and SOAS Student Union.

This is the most dangerous moment in the world since 2003. The sanctions on
Iranian oil imposed by the EU on Monday are a provocation that could spark a
war at any time. Iran’s threats to retaliate by closing the Straits of Hormuz
were answered on the weekend by US Defence Secretary Panetta saying the US
would ’respond’ if there was a closure and by US, British and French navy
ships sailing through the Straits.

The new sanctions mark a sharp escalation in an ongoing campaign of cyber
attacks, assassinations and US troop deployments in the area all designed to
destabilise the Iranian regime. Such a strategy of tension isn’t just deeply
irresponsible. It shows the argument for war is gaining ground in the west. An
article by influential US hawk Mattew Kroenig in the current edition of
Foreign Affairs is headlined ’Time to Attack Iran’. His basic argument is
summed up in a single subheading: ’Strike Now or Suffer Later’.

As yesterdays Financial Times pointed out, this approach is making headway.
Both US Republican presidential contenders Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich
favour an attack. Sections of the British establishment are now talking up
confrontation. Meanwhile calls for intervention against Iran’s ally Syria are
also growing.

The echoes of the build up to war on Iraq are loud and clear.

If you oppose the terrible prospect of a war on Iran or Syria please join the
protest this Saturday. Speakers will include Tony Benn, Lindsey German, Roger
Lloyd Pack, Abbas Edalat, Jeremy Corbyn MP, Sabah Jawad, Shirin Shafie.

Forum posts

  • Posted January 26, 2012 09:35:16

    The secretary-general of the Syrian Arab Red Crescent was shot dead as he drove in a clearly marked car outside the capital Damascus, the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
    Doctor Abd-al-Razzaq Jbeiro was on the highway to the northern town of Idlib from Damascus after attending meetings at Red Crescent headquarters, the agency said in a statement.
    It is not clear if his death is related to a crackdown on anti-government demonstrators by Syrian security forces.
    "Regardless of the circumstances, the ICRC condemns this very severely," said Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, head of ICRC operations for the Middle East.
    She added that the "lack of respect for medical services" remained a major issue in Syria.
    Syrian state television blamed "terrorists" for the incident, saying the doctor had been "assassinated".(end snip)