A Letter for Gordon 3

 in War in Iraq by

From Stop the War

Gordon Brown will make a statement on the war in Iraq when parliament returns in October. Stop the War has begun organising a new mass campaign calling on Brown to bring all the British troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan immediately and to use his October statement to signal a break from George Bush’s foreign policy. An open letter to the Prime Minister is printed below and you can add your name online now at: http://www.stopwar.org.uk.

On Monday 8 October, Stop the War is organising a national troops out protest at Parliament, at which MPs will again be lobbied to reflect the opinion of the vast majority of people in Britain.

The latest opinion polls show that two thirds of the British people want the troops out of Iraq now and only six per cent think the war in Afghanistan is being won. Leaders of the British military have made it clear that they think the game is up in Iraq, or as Major General Richard Dannatt puts it, “We should get ourselves out sometime soon because our presence exacerbates the security problems”.

OPEN LETTER TO GORDON BROWN:

Dear Prime Minister

We urge you to use your October statement to signal a break from George Bush’s foreign policy and to bring all the British troops out of Iraq immediately, regardless of US plans. It is clear the presence of British troops in Iraq is a pointless waste of life. The majority of Iraqis want them to go. Most soldiers have been withdrawn to base outside Basra where they play no active role but are coming under fire regularly and taking heavy casualties. It is time to go. The occupation of Afghanistan is sliding in to chaos so familiar from Iraq and the troops should be brought home. An attack on Iran would be a disaster for the population and would increase instability in the region.

We need a change of course.

If you would like to join us in helping to build the troops out now campaign, contact the Stop the War national office and we will explain how you can get involved: Telephone 020 7278 6694 or email [email protected]

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3 thoughts on “A Letter for Gordon”

  • macshealbhaich

    I think that this is a good idea, but whether Gordon Brown will take any notice is another matter. It may be that he is as willfully ignorant of history as his predecessor. I found it unbelievable that the UK could have been drawn into another war in Afghanistan – we've had three previous 'go's, all of which were greater or lesser disasters. It is said that a definition of insanity is to keep doing the same thing while expecting a different outcome each time – and we're stuck in Helwand, of all places, the scene of the massacre in the 2nd Afghan War. So, which lucky man is going to get to play Dr Brydon?

  • writeon

    I think a central point is, will Brown support a coming American attack on Iran? Does Brown have the votes to push through such a policy? Sure, he will certainly have the Conservatives behind him, but what about his own party – New Labour? If Bush is planning to go out in a blaze of glory, destroying the last state that still refuses to accept US/Israeli domination of the region; what are the consequences for UK interests? By that I mean our two armies in Iraq and Afghanistan? Surely it's time for UK politicians to start putting our interests first and thos of the US second? Shouldn't we be having a national debate about the consequences of a massive blitz of Iran, a policy designed to bomb them back decades? Or is the UK really just a tacky and tarted-up, banana republic, whore of a country, that keeps its mouth shut and it legs open for Uncle Sam?

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