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On 4 October, in terrible weather, demonstrators arrived at Menwith Hill spy station, Yorkshire, for the annual “Keep Space for Peace” demo, part of an international protest against Star Wars “missile defence”.
After a public meeting, with live music and speeches from Rebecca Johnson and local Labour MP Colin Challen, the demonstration circled the base as planned.
The police, expecting a walk, had served “Section 12” notices under the Public Order Act (1986), prohibiting any…

While the war in Afghanistan continues to escalate, a British diplomat and a British military commander have made headlines with their outspoken realism about the conflict.

The leaked draft US National Intelligence Estimate on Afghanistan describes the country as in a “downward spiral”.

A French diplomat’s secret report of his meeting with British ambassador to Afghanistan Sir Sherard Cowper-Coles has been leaked, causing embarrassment.

Cowper-Coles is alleged to…

At the end of September, the Observer revealed that Britain has been supporting Afghan peace negotiations with the leadership of the Taliban, despite official denials – opening up the prospect of division with the US.

Though ordinary Afghans overwhelmingly back a negotiated settlement, Britain officially rejects talks except with “those within the Taliban who are genuinely prepared to leave the path of violence and engage in the legitimate political process” (Foreign Office…

On 13 October, at a meeting in London, Iraq’s oil minister, Hussein Shahristani, put eight oil and gas fields, representing about 40% of Iraq’s known oil reserves, up for grabs.

According to press reports, foreign oil companies were told they will be allowed to access up to 49% of each field; and, rather than receiving a flat fee for pumping the oil, they can bid for a share of the extra revenue they generate.

The oil ministry has reportedly said that contracts could run…

Britain’s military presence in Basra is “not necessary for maintaining security and control”, Nouri al-Maliki, the Iraqi prime minister, told The Times in an interview that appeared on 13 October. “There might be a need for their experience in training and some technological issues,” he added, “but as a fighting force, I don’t think that is necessary.”

Al-Maliki, a leading figure in Dawa, the Shia party, also noted that the status of Britain’s non-combat forces is also in doubt, as…

US terrorism against Pakistan continues. Up to 21 people (including two women and a child) were killed in a US drone attack on 3 October; three were killed in a suspected US missile attack on 11 October; and at least nine people were killed in a US missile attack on a Pakistani madrassa in North Waziristan on 22 October.

The 22 October strikes came just hours after the Pakistani parliament passed a unanimous resolution demanding an end to US attacks. The resolution said: “The…

The threatened Iraqi oil rip-off was highlighted in central London on 11 October in a lively demonstration. The demo, organised by Hands Off Iraqi Oil, featured a huge puppet of Dick Cheney trying to grasp an oil well. It was timed to coincide with the start of the last 100 days of the Bush administration, a period expected to see its sustained effort to force through a law that would mean the effective privatisation of Iraq’s main industry.

As the march snaked its way from Shell…

On 16 October, five Swedish activists (pictured above) broke into factories owned by arms manufacturers BAE Systems and Saab and used household hammer to protest against the Swedish arms trade.
Cattis Laska, 24, and Pelle Strinlund, 37, hammered on components for the BAE Systems Howitzer 77 in a factory in Karlskoga in western Sweden.
Anna Andersson, 26, and Martin Smedjeback, 35, entered a Saab Bofors Dynamics plant in Eskilstuna, and disarmed 20 Carl Gustav grenade…

Two more US war resisters have been put on notice of deportation from Canada, where they have sought refuge.

On 8 October, US Iraq war resister Patrick Hart, his wife Jill and son Rian were told that they had to voluntarily leave Canada or be deported to the United States on 30 October.

The next day, Matt Lowell, of London, Ontario, was ordered to leave Canada by 28 October.

Patrick Hart is a former sergeant and a nine-year veteran of the US military. After serving…

On 3 September, the last of the four days of the US Republican National Convention (RNC) in St Paul, Minnesota, demonstrators attempting to march on the convention centre after 5pm (when the permit to demonstrate expired) were met by police in riot gear using snow-ploughs, horses and dump trucks to stop the march.
At about midnight, police in riot gear encircled people leaving a Rage Against the Machine gig and made some 150 arrests including four distinctively attired “Peace Team”…

From Afghanistan to Palestine to Minnesota, video activism has been proving its value over the past few months.
It was video shot on a local doctor’s mobile phone that forced the Pentagon to drop its claim that only seven civilians died in Nawabad.
The footage, viewable on the web (see p2), shows dozens of bodies lying in the local mosque the morning after the massacre.

Point-blank
In July, in Palestine, video recorded by Salam Kanaan, 17, showed the world a…

At the end of August, Philip Alston, United Nations special rapporteur on illegal government killings, said his chief concern was the policy of night raids by foreign intelligence agencies.

These raids took place without accountability to the Afghan government, and left those subjected to them with three choices; “They can either stay in their home and run the risk of being shot in their bed. Secondly, they could try and run, in which they would be shot, or thirdly, they fire back in…

More details have emerged concerning the 21-22 August US airstrike on the village of Nawabad, the Azizabad area of Shindand district, reported in last month’s PN.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) human rights team visited the area immediately after the massacre, resulting in a statement by the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General for Afghanistan on 26 August: “Investigations by UNAMA found convincing evidence, based on testimony of eyewitnesses, and…

Iraqi architect and blogger Raed Jarrar has translated a leaked copy of the interim US-Iraq agreement for American Friends Service Committee.

The text promises full immunity for US forces operating in Iraq, sets no deadline for the withdrawal of “non-combat” troops (not defined).

The agreement also raises the possibility that the US and Iraqi governments may try to ratify the agreement without gaining the approval of the Iraqi parliamentary (the text says it comes into…

Transition towns are a new and fast spreading initiative on how our communities can cope with climate change and the decline of oil supplies. One important aspect is that of local finance.

Lewes, birth-place of Thomas Paine (1737-1809), author of the Rights of Man, a popular text book of republican principles, has issued its own currency, the “Lewes Pound”.
The money can be exchanged at issuing points round the town including the Farmers’ Market and the Town Hall. Over a…

Once again, Iran’s recent cooperation with UN inspectors, and its positive proposal for an international consortium to control its uranium enrichment, are being ignored, and the Iranian government is being pilloried in the press.

As PN goes to press, a new report on Iran is being presented to the board of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), accusing Tehran of failing to cooperate with IAEA investigations into alleged “weaponisation” research.

The IAEA has also…

The Israeli government has more than doubled the size of a dozen of its settlements on the West Bank, according to the Israeli human rights group B’Tselem, by seizing Palestinian land for “special security areas” – by military order.
The justification is that these lands are needed as “warning areas” – but they are used by settlers, exposing their real purpose: the seizure of Palestinian land.
Figures compiled from official sources by Israeli peace group Peace Now indicate…

The US raids inside Pakistan (see p1) raise the risk of terrorist attacks in London, said Wajid Shamsul Hassan, Pakistani high commissioner to Britain, on 14 September.
“This will infuriate Muslims in this country and make the streets of London less safe,” he added. “The Americans’ trigger-happy actions will radicalise young Muslims. They’re playing into the hands of the very militants we’re supposed to be fighting.”
Pointing out that no high-level Taliban or al Qa’eda leader…

US war resister Robin Long, who was deported from Canada, and imprisoned in the US on 22 August for 15 months for his conscientious objection to the Iraq war, can be written to at: Robin Long, 484 Lake Park Ave # 41, Oakland CA 94610
Robin cannot receive post from anyone directly until he adds them to his “approved mail list”.
US war resister James Burmeister, jailed for six months on 16 July, can be written to at: James Burmeister, Box A, Fort Knox, KY 40121, USA.
As PN…

In Westminster Magistrates Court on 25 July, an admission was made by the prosecutors that lent weight to the belief that the Serious Organised Crime & Police Act (SOCPA) can no longer be used against protestors near Parliament.
Barbara Tucker was appearing accused of causing alarm and distress to Alan Duncan MP by haranguing him outside Parliament for voting for the Iraq war.
In the prosecution case summary appeared the remarkable statement: “Owing to changes in SOCPA…