War Without End

funglefoot · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 12:08 pm Post subject:

What just forget it and let this perfidy go unchallenged? Let the puppy mess at will? foul wherever it goes? I've spent a night in the cells, got my prints, photo and dna on file, spent a day travelling up to Cheltenham and back for the sake of some lies told by an over-weight, over-important and unprinicipled puppy. I am not in a forgetful mood.

Timmyg · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 12:44 pm Post subject:

funglefoot · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 1:22 pm Post subject:

funglefoot · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 5:48 pm Post subject:

Seeing as some people liked it -

FAIRFORD FADE-OUT

The sun shone on everyone, all 100 odd in number. The peace camp faithful turned up to celebrate 'Independence from America'. But the mood was subdued. The Stars and Stripes were flown Stars down and 'Independence from America' in black across the stripes. The airbase cars had the audacity to hoot constantly. One gentleman pedestrian got uppity and shouted F' Off and then took exception to getting the bird. And he was a Brit!

When we got up to the entrance to the base the Declaration of Independence from America was solemnly read and later handed to the police to be delivered to the Base Commander. After that it was down to the car park again and a ride round the base visiting old haunts of previous struggle.

The Peace Protest seems to have lost its way. Peace protest in war-time is meaningful. Peace protest in peace time loses its edge. No point in calling for peace while this country is at peace. Surely we should be baying for the justification for the war, for the proof of WMD, for Blair's blood. But no it is the media who is doing all this. Everything is quiet on the streets. The one or two million who marched in London have seemingly filed all their memories and are waiting until the grandchildren get old enough to be told about the 15th February 2003.

So on we went to Farringdon, the scene of today's Peace Fete. That P word again! A clear dawn and a chorus of birds. First thing was to patch up and repair those sacred relics, the banners, from the Peace Camp. So they could be hung for the gawping public to revere. The Peace movement is degenerating into cult worship, a personal improvement program. People who go are either leaders, leaders helpers, or attentive audience. There is an air of resignation. We did our best, we couldn't stop the war, but we care and so our conscience is clear. We think of the Iraqis in their suffering and we share with them. It's depressing but morally uplifting.

But the people who lead this Peace movement have given their all, their time, their money, and oceans of kindness. It seems so sad that it has come to this. They deserve much better. When the war was on it was easy. The war was there all we had to do was protest against it. Now there is no war and we have to find a new raison d'etre. I think we should be protesting for Justice for Iraq. This means full restoration of their infrastructure, establishment of a democratic government, withdrawel of all coallition troops, and a full public judicial enquiry into the Missing Weapons of Mass Destruction. We should be fighting for a quality peace for Iraq. We should also fight for U.N. specific procedures for investigation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. That would have to be a global protest movement. Go to it.

ktholcombe · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 6:17 pm Post subject:

Well done to all those putting in so much work in Bath. Thanks for the below efforts :D

http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/front.php3?article_id=7145&group=webcast

ktholcombe · Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2003 10:32 pm Post subject: Damacio Lopez

Damacio Lopez is looking forward to joining USAF Fairford Protesters on Saturday 19th July during the Rogues International Arms Tradeshow with a view to discussion about the use of DU Worldwide and in particular from USAF Fairford.

In return I am bringing to attention the work and needs of his organisation IDUST to try and help establish that his work will gather all possible support.

Kt.

What's All This About RADIOACTIVE WEAPONS ?

RADIOACTIVE WEAPONS ARE NOT SACRED

International Depleted Uranium Study Team

( contact IDUST )

CALL TO ACTION

International Depleted Uranium Study Team (IDUST) is a Non-governmental Organization (NGO) of international researchers, activists and scientists with a global strategy to stop the use of Depleted Uranium U-238 (DU) in military weapons by the year 2010. The establishment of IDUST represents a timely and urgently important targeted expansion of alliance-building, education, research and outreach efforts. IDUST builds on the foundation of knowledge skills learned, and work accomplished over the past 15 years by it's team members. See ARTICLES BELOW on the testing and use of DU worldwide.

DU is a highly toxic heavy metal with a radioactive half-life of four and one-half billion years. DU has accumulated in enormous quantities since the dawn of the nuclear age. Despite the name "Depleted" Uranium, DU has 60% the radioactivity of Natural Uranium, which is pure uranium. Our focus is to increase public awareness of both the problems associated with DU in weapons and the need to enforce existing international humanitarian and human rights law that prohibit the use of DU in military weapons. We have a plan to aid in the elimination of this highly toxic and radioactive material that is used in military weapons across the globe. Our immediate work is recruiting IDUST volunteers and Advisory Board members to form IDUST Teams particularly in countries where DU is suspected to be part of the military arsenal or has been contaminated by DU, included are; Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Bahrain, Bolivia, Brazil,, Canada, Czech Republic, Colombia, Croatia, Denmark, Egypt, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Israel, Iraq, Iceland, Italy, Japan, Kuwait, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Norway, New Zealand, Portugal, Panama, Pakistan, Poland, Puerto Rico, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Spain, South Korea, Taiwan, Turkey, Thailand, UnitedKingdom, United States and Yugoslavia.

To succeed will require a mass movement across the globe. We need help in the following areas:
Local Organizing
Internet Management
International Law
Media Relations
Fundraising
Resources
Research
United Nations
Exchange Programs
Indigenous Lands Studies
Proliferation Studies
Medical Experts
Scientists to Test and Analyze Water, Air and Soil Samples
Please advise us of any activities you are aware of involving depleted uranium in your country.

PROBLEM STATEMENT DU has become internationally recognized as a health hazard. It is a suspected environmental contaminant in more than 50 sites across the U.S. and on battlefields and test sites throughout the world. Affected communities experience health problems similar to those of U.S. Gulf War veterans and Iraqi soldiers and civilians. Since the 1950s weapons containing DU have been tested and developed near communities across the U.S.. One such community is Socorro, New Mexico where DU open air testing began in 1972 and ended in 1993 after pressure from a local citizens group called "Save our Mountain." DU is very appealing in military weapons because of its heavy weight and pyrophoric qualities which cause it to burn like a cutting torch through steel when a DU penetrator strikes a hard target. This material which would otherwise be nuclear waste and cost the Department of Energy billions of dollars to dispose of is now provided free of charge for military use and to private industry. It is the pyrophoric quality that makes this weapon so horrific, the burning of DU creates respirable size radioactive dust that can have short and long term health effects on the human body, such as kidney problems, followed by birth defects, cancers and death. The U.S. military uses DU in various weapons such as armor-piercing bullets, casing for bombs, shielding on tanks, counter weights and ground penatrators on missiles, fragments that penetrate armor and anti-personnel mines. NATO forces have used such weaponry in combat since the Persian Gulf War, and most recently in Yugoslavia. Yet use of weapons containing DU are considered illegal under international laws governing weapons of war. Weapons must meet these four criteria under existing international humanitarian and human rights law in armed conflict:
1) weapons must be able to be limited in effect to the field of battle (the territorial limitation)
2) weapons must be limited in effect to the time period of the armed conflict (the temporal limitation)
3) weapons must not be unduly inhumane (the humanity limitation)
4) weapons must not unduly damage the environment (the environmental limitation) DU in military weapons are inherently illegal under this criteria.
The Pentagon has been selling excess and obsolete stocks of brass covered shells that include 50-caliber armor-piercing rounds for $1 a ton to Talon Manufacturing Company. Last year Talon sold more that 100,000 armor-piercing 50 caliber rounds on the civilian market. The buyers ranged from the militaries of Brazil and Colombia to civilian weapons dealers in the U.S.. Gun dealers boast that the projectile will go through six inches of steel up to a 45-degree angle at 1,000 yards. The 50-caliber guns are considered accurate at 2,000 yards and can hit targets 4 miles away with some effectiveness. Talon even sold 35,000 rounds of the refurbished 50-caliber armor-piercing projectiles back to the U.S. military. The U.S. military arsenal includes a 50-caliber DU armor-piercing projectile. IDUST is investigating this report to find out if these armor-piercing rounds contain DU.
Human populations exposed to DU contamination:
1) people who reside near facilities that process or are involved in the research, development and testing of DU,
2) combatants and civilians in Iraq, Saudi Arabia and Kuwait (1990/1991 Gulf War). Bombings continue today with missiles that contain DU.
3) combatants and civilians in Bosnia (1994/1995 war),
4) combatants and civilians in Yugoslavia and the surrounding Balkan region (1999 war).
Some U.S. military doctors claim that human health effects from DU are not well known, however on October 30, 1943 the U.S. War Department proposed the "Use of Radioactive Materials as a Military Weapon." Two objectives were recommended at that time, 1) as a terrain contaminating material, the radioactive product would be spread on the ground and would affect personnel, 2) as a gas warfare instrument, the material would be ground into particles of microscopic size to form dust and smoke and distributed by a ground-fired projectile, land vehicle, or aerial bombs. In this form it would be inhaled by personnel. This proposal gave way to decades of secret human radiation experiments. After the Gulf War, Iraq did extensive health studies of civilians and soldiers who may have been exposed to DU and found that cancers and birth defects were ten times higher than the levels experienced before the Gulf War. Over 250,000 returning Americans Gulf War troops have reported to veterans hospitals asking for medical help for what has become known as the Gulf War Syndrome.

IDUST PLAN Through coalition and alliances with other organizations, IDUST works to inform, and coordinate community advocacy efforts around the globe to stop the proliferation and use of weapons containing DU. We demand health studies and medical care for soldiers and civilians exposed to DU and the cleanup and remediation of contaminated sites and the total elimination of DU in military weapons by the year 2010. IDUST is building a global network of new faces, new information, relationships with credentialed United Nations (UN) NGOs and IDUST TEAMS to advocate for local, national and international laws, policies and resolutions that will lead to the total elimination of DU in military weapons. The past, current and future work of IDUST consists of alliance building through community organizing strategies, networking activities, research, education, media outreach and personal contacts. We are recruiting Advisory Board members and volunteers to form IDUST Teams in communities across the globe to demand the enforcement of international human rights and humanitarian laws governing weapons of war. IDUST researches the connection between money in politics and the DU weapons industry to better understand the political and economic motives of decision makers. A principle objective of our work is to aid international bodies that have jurisdiction over weapons of war. IDUST compliments the efforts of other groups that also seek the elimination of DU in weapons.

Learn about the Uranium Medical Project

FOR INFORMATION ABOUT SITES OF CONTAMINATION IN THE U.S.A.:

THE D.o.E. 1995 List of Sites Reviewed for Possible Past Involvement in Nuclear Weapons Related Activities (Also known as the "FUSRAP List")

SEE Bob KINSEY'S comments mingled with THE U.S. ARMY'S REPORT on DEPLETED URANIUM

Please call us!

Damacio Lopez, Executive Director at (505) 838 0263

E-mail < IDUST@sdc.com >
or
Maria Santelli at (505) 247-9694

Tax deductible contributions are appreciated and badly needed. Send to:
IDUST

P.O. Box 1688
Bernalillo, New Mexico 87004
USA
A project of New Mexico Research, Education, and Enrichment Foundation (NMREEF) 501-C3

http://www.nevadadesertexperience.org/poisonfireDU.html

Timmyg · Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2003 2:52 pm Post subject:

Timmyg · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2003 6:57 am Post subject:

Anyone going to Riat, weather will good for flying. Whats coming in from the States?

Timmyg · Posted: Mon Jul 14, 2003 10:29 am Post subject:

http://www.rafbfe.co.uk/

funglefoot · Posted: Wed Jul 23, 2003 9:06 am Post subject:

Fairford: the Fair and the Foul.
Please note it is not my intention to blacken the name of any individual or group. Neither is this a vendetta or an exercise in revenge. My aim is to portray events as I saw them and how they influenced me, and how I thought they influenced others. In the latter I have only my observations and my intuition to guide me. I hope to be constructive.

The Protest Movement at Fairford began with the Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors, a group of white boiler-suited men and women who turned out at the Main Gate of USAF Fairford in order to demand access to inspect the WMD’s housed within. The War has shown us just how potent those WMD’s are and how ruthless the Coalition was in deploying them. I mean the B-52’s. Now, three months after the War has ended we are still waiting for an Iraqi WMD to grace our TV screens. Instead we have seen horrendous pictures of child and other victims of the tactics of Shock and Awe.

The Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectorate was right. Their adversaries, the Gloucestershire Constabulary allowed themselves to be used as tools of the Oppressor, the Bush-Blair Axis of Evil. I wonder how those honest Bobbies feel while they watch the scenes of devastation in Iraq on their new 32” televisions bought with the thick wads of overtime money earned in March and April 2003. Who knows? Maybe there will be another war soon. Difficult to upgrade a 32” TV. I guess they will just have to settle on a new Jag or a Landrover for the missus to take the kids to school in. If so, at least somebody has a reason to feel positive about war.

As the Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectorate drew bigger crowds on their weekend appearances the idea of a peace camp germinated. This was partly due to the influence of veterans of the CND movement at Greenham Common. These ladies, armed with their respectful years of service with the CND, decided to establish a Peace Camp at Fairford. Greenham Common was a female thing, yet some women still managed to give birth there, whereas the Anti-War thing was/is neutral, a different kettle of fish.

Mistakes were made in alerting the authorities to the intentions of the Campers. Standing in the road in a group and pointing like game dogs at a prime piece of real estate in full view of the guards within the fence, and at the main gate, was bound to give the game away. That particular piece of land was quickly rendered inaccessible by the authorities. Unfortunately.

Another site was found, conveniently located near a local pub and apparently enquiries were made of the Town Clerk as to who owned it. Apparently the clerk told them that it was council land. The Protestors went ahead and pitched their Peace Camp. It then transpired that this field actually belonged to a local farmer who was not best gruntled with the presence of the Peace Protest on his land. Said farmer went to law to have the Camp removed and succeeded.

Going on intuition here but I think there may have been an element of bad faith as regards the farmer’s field, maybe it's my suspicious nature. Perhaps the authorities thought it would be a good thing to have the Camp where the Protestors could easily be evicted. Perhaps they thought that once evicted they would give up and go home. They made a colossal misjudgement in their assessment of one member of the Peace Camp Management. The camp was moved to behind the pub which became a symbiotic relationship of mutual benefit to all.

One incident sticks in my mind from those early days in the farmer’s field. On the first weekend we had large numbers of visitors coming through the camp and one member of the management jumped up on the outdoor coffee table and asked the visitors not to loiter and to go through once they had had a look around. The kiss of death. I never saw many of the people, whom I had been chatting to, again. Regrettably.

The public were most generous, donating tents, coffee, food and utensils etc. Unfortunately much of the coffee simply disappeared so it was down to Alldays in Fairford to buy some more. A solar panel to recharge the mobile phones was also misappropriated. Likewise a wind-up radio and a mains powered battery re-charger. Money donated to the camp through the post also disappeared. I must say the police weren’t a lot of good when it came to their traditional functions…

I’ve heard that the local council tax in Fairford and surrounds has gone up 50% due to the cost of policing the protests. The police made a heavy lunch of it. Quite often there were more policemen and women than there were protestors. While the protest was on we believed that the USA was paying the bill, but now apparently they are only paying a portion. I think it may be half.

By the time the Camp moved behind the pub, maybe because it was behind the pub, the media were onto the Peace Protest. Various Television Crews were frequent visitors. At times during the week there seemed to be more television crew than there were protestors. Most protestors had full-time jobs. Some were students. And this accounts for the fall off in numbers midweek. The leaders of the Camp were quoted in the national broadsheets, in the oversees press e.g. le Monde and appeared on local and national TV.

The Peace Camp was very successful in staying in the eye of the media.

The establishment of a camp at Gate 10 was the crowning achievement of the Protest at Fairford. Gate 10 was/is an emergency gate for getting in and out of the base, say in the case of fire or an air crash. The Protestors got right up against the perimeter fence and pitched their tents within a few yards. The Yanks did not like this and within two weeks they unilaterally extended their boundary another fifteen yards down the access road, pushing the Protestors back. The legality of this move was doubtful but there is not much future in arguing with a soldier holding a gun.

The Gate 10 Protest continued. Arrivals and departures of the B-52’s were logged. A presence right in the face of the USAF Base Commander was steadfastly maintained. This gentleman took exception to the ‘Iraqi’ flag which the Gate Tenners flew. It was in fact the Palestinian flag. To kill the monotony individual protestors recorded their thoughts on tape. Food, firewood and water were brought in until the police got nasty and wouldn’t even allow a toothbrush in. Anyone entering the access lane from the public road was searched under powers promulgated by the Home Secretary and also the Terrorism Act. The Police were looking for wire-cutting tools which could be used to penetrate the fence and the razor wire.

Gate 10 was hard work. It took a great deal of stamina and determination. Compared to Gate 10 Big Brother is a holiday camp for sissies. (No offence Sissy). The establishment of the camp was probably the hardest task. See my entry ‘No fair weather for our friends in Fairford’ on Page 1 of USAF Fairford - Peace Camp Established .

Being a Protestor wasn’t easy. No such thing as running water and mod-cons. No. Taking a crap on a proper WC was a longed for luxury. Sometimes there was not enough water to wash your hands. It was damn cold at night in March and April and the fire needed constant minding. A hot bath or shower was heaven that waited for you miles away wherever home was. In the mean time Gate Tenners just made do with whatever there was. I believe some local people kindly offered the use of their bathrooms. I myself was never Gate Ten material – incapable of sticking it out for those lengths of time. I ran errands, took messages, got stuff from Alldays, supplied wood and water, groceries etc.

At times tensions ran high at base camp behind the pub. This was understandable.

There was the trial of getting in and out of the Peace Camp when the pub was closed without upsetting the neighbours. Unfortunately there wasn’t a right of way in and out. This also accounts for the lack of Campers.

There was the threat of being moved on or searched by the police. The constant mind-chilling whine of jet engines and the knowledge that what was being loaded onto the B-52’s would soon be killing people in Iraq – ordinary people like us – civilians. On top of everything was the inconvenience. Finding the matches to light the fire to boil the kettle knowing that Alldays was 2 miles away. Searching for the coffee. Re-charging mobile telephone batteries. Washing, and washing up with cold water. I was expelled as a Cub, never graduated to a Boy Scout.

Then there were the conflicting agendas. The Greenham Common Brigade who insisted on holding a ‘Women Only’ day which conflicted with others’ plans. There was an attempt by the CND Old Girls to fashion Fairford after Greenham Common. There were clutches of Committee Commissars who disappeared into the back room of the pub for lengthy discussions. Late arrivals were turned away by the gate-keeper who hurried our visitors out of the Camp in the farmer’s field.

An unhealthy class consciousness was creeping in. Credentials were shown and sniffed at. I felt nervous. Did I fit in amongst these heavy-weight politicos? I didn’t. Just standing in the bar could be daunting in this company. What the hell, get another Guinness down your neck! Committee Commissars came and went and departed to their own spheres of influence, and were not seen again,. I was an impostor I suppose. Although I had strong feelings about the wickedness of the War I wasn’t really a campaigner in my own right. I was only there through the influence of a friend.

The most exhausting feeling was one of total inadequacy. There stood the B-52’s, loaded up to deliver death and destruction on Iraq, and there we were only a hundred yards away but powerless to do anything about it. The rank and file of Protestors need feelings of purpose and achievement to sustain them. Later on one occasion at another location, after enough to drink, I staged my own one man protest in front of a loaded police car for the simple satisfaction of being able to say to myself ‘Well I did do something at least’. It was a total waste of time… but what else could I do?

You look around and all you see is busy people who know what they are doing but inside I didn’t have much of a clue… That’s why I stuck to the physical tasks, like chopping firewood, fetching water, shopping. The Committee Commissars didn’t inspire me with any sense of purpose. Only a sense of frustration.

Another camp was established near Whelford which was the munitions dump where the ordnance came from. A group successfully blocked the road in front of a convoy of trucks transporting bombs to Fairford. That was a great symbolic achievement. I never went there so I don’t know much about it. I was mostly at the Peace Camp in Fairford, sometimes spending Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday nights there. But this was only for about five weeks I guess. Sometimes it was necessary to stay overnight simply to make up enough numbers to keep the camp occupied and going.

End of the day I suppose I am like other people. I was there because history was in the making and I wanted to be part of it. I wanted to show by my presence my own opposition to the war. It was an experience – unfortunately I am too old to accommodate Fairford in my CV. The most important thing as far as I can see is the mere fact of being there. Like Chancy in the film entitled ‘Being There’, protestors make their statement just by being there.

THE END

War Without End

The global war against terror, news about the illegal invasion of Iraq, the corporate puppet presidents, the war criminal Tony Blair, September 11th 2001, the USS Liberty and New World Order crimes against humanity.

USAF Fairford - Peace Camp Established - page 15