Don't forget Iraq and Afghanistan

Iraq as noted in a previous post seems to have been forgotten by many papers yet the situation is still dire - although Bush recently declared: "Iraq is now a different place. Levels of violence are significantly reduced. Hope is returning to Baghdad."

Photo: Trees near Haresfield Beacon last weekend

Read more closely and it is a very different story - this blog is put together largely from Stop the War Coalition emails - the residents of the southern outskirts of Baghdad, whose homes were flattened on January 10 will not agree with Bush - US bombers unleashed 40,000 pounds of explosives on them in the biggest aerial attack since March 2003, killing or injuring dozens of civilians, many of them women, children and the elderly. Infact US bombing raids in 2007 have quadrupled compared to 2006, rising from four attacks a week to four attacks a day.

The latest assessment on Iraq finds that 151,000 (between 104,000 and 220,000) people died from violence between March 2003 and June 2006. See the full article re casualty numbers here and why this prestigious new report is the most accurate assessment so far.

In Afghanistan, the situation is also bad - the Washington Post reported recently the number of air strikes doubled in 2007 to a staggering 3,572 - an average of close to 10 per day. In 2005, by comparison, there were around 200 air strikes.

These increasing levels of carnage come from the man who accuses Iran and Syria of "fomenting violence" in the region and whose main purpose in his visit to the Middle East seems to have been to set up arms deals with a number of countries, which will get weapons of mass violence at an estimated cost of 20 billion dollars. Indeed Israel had a $100m arms package confirmed for the latest 'smart' missiles at the very time that its siege of Gaza was facing worldwide condemnation for what UN representatives called "illegal measures and practices against the Palestinian civilian population". See comment in Guardian here re "Iraqis understand that only the departure of the occupiers can let them live in peace."

Stop the War Coalition of which the Green party is part has now joined with the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the British Muslim Initiative in calling for a national demonstration
in London on Saturday 15 March - a worldwide day of protest against George Bush's wars on the fifth anniversary of the Iraq invasion. Meanwhile Gordon Brown would like us to forget that British troops are still in Iraq. They are holed up in Basra airport until George Bush lets them leave. Iraquis do not think we are making the situation safer - see this survey here - 86% of respondents believed the British troops have, overall, had a negative effect on the Basra province since March 2003.

Meanwhile more actions and vigils are planned before the March demo - indeed every Saturday in Stroud High Street there is a vigil for peace - and indeed I met a woman a couple on months ago who stands every day in Bristol at a Peace vigil - one important event coming up will be the Hands Off Iraqi Oil national day of action on Saturday 23 February 2008 - although as yet none planned in Gloucestershire on that day. A year ago the Iraqi cabinet approved an oil law which, if passed into law, would allow the likes of Shell, BP and Exxon to take over control of most of Iraq's oil reserves, depriving ordinary Iraqis of scores of billions of dollars. Shell and BP, with the help of the UK Government have been actively pushing for this law and these contracts since 2003. One year on, despite five US administration - and IMF - imposed deadlines, the law is still being contested at every level of Iraqi society.