Tuesday 22 August 2017

Brian Eno: Why We Need to Stop the War


16 years on from the beginning of the War on Terror. British taxpayers' money is continuing to fund bombing and killing in the Middle East. Over a million have died in Iraq alone. Many thousands have died or have been maimed in other countries that Britain has intervened in, War is still raging in Asghanistan, Iraq, Syria and Yemen. Millions have had to flee their homes. Meanwhile, while spending our money on foreign wars, the British establishment is continuing with its programme of crippling cuts to public services.
The British government has also admitted that it is providing technical and other assistance to the Saudi government in its hideous bombing campaign in Yemen, which has killed thousands of people including thousands of civilians. Moreover it has sold more than £3 billion worth of arms to the Saudi dictatorship , in contravention of international law since the bombardment began.
But the tide is now beginning to turn, as anti-war politics are gaining increasing power and influence in British political life .Jeremy Corbyn  is right to warn Theresa May's government not to 'obediently applaud ' Washington's planned escalation of the war in Afghanistan. A war that has failed  with such devastating human cost, that hs only served to increase the terrorist threat.
Let's reject the idea that war is either admirable or good. Let's reverse the militarization of so many dimensions of our society. Arms Fairs are crucial to the smooth-running of the arms trade. They promote weapons sales by giving arms dealers the chance to meet and greet military delegations, government officials, other arms companies and a host of individual visitors.
Unsurprisingly, the guest lists for arms fairs frequently include regimes who abuse human rights, and countries actively involved in armed conflicts. Say no to companies that profit from human misery.
Join the week of action to Stop the Arms Fair at London’s Docklands, 4th-11th September, 2017.
https://www.stopthearmsfair.org.uk/join-in/
Here are some words from the musician and activist Brian Eno :-

'Fear is a great paralyser. A frightened population is easy to govern. In a climate of fear, people are willing to allow their rights and freedoms to be limited. They’re willing to follow orders and penalise resisters. They’re willing to fall for easy, quick and ill-conceived military ‘solutions’. They’re willing to serve as defenders of the state without asking why that state needs defending, or from what.
So it’s fear that keeps the hamster-wheel turning; but it’s hope that... will get us out of the cage.
Stopping war means building a society based not on relentless consumption and profiteering but instead on sustainability and conservation and sharing. It means making a world that is worth saving for everybody, so that the idea of war - of destroying all that - becomes unthinkable, ridiculous.' -

Brian Eno, 2017
Stop the war's new President.

Read Brian Eno's essay on the importance of the anti-war movement.and strengthen the movement  join Stop the War Coalition today: http://www.stopwar.org.uk/in…/get-involved/join-stop-the-war

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