Stop the War Newsletter 28/2/22

Newsletter – 28/02/22

Fighting For an Independent, Peaceful Foreign Policy 

The month of January has provided a snapshot of exactly why Britain needs a radical reset of its foreign policy. The crisis around Ukraine has seen Boris Johnson’s unstable government grandstanding at every possible occasion in an attempt to take the stoplight off their domestic troubles and cling to the coattails of a US administration recklessly stoking tensions abroad.

But it’s not just rhetoric, Britain is also sending weapons – 2000 anti-tank missile launchers to be precise. It is a move which has directly fueled tensions with the Russian Foreign Minister describing it as a “provocation”. Meanwhile, Britain maintains unquestioning support for the NATO alliance which has continually expanded eastwards since the end of the Cold War whilst wrecking at least three countries – Kosovo, Afghanistan and Libya – along the way.

With a 20-year track record of disastrous wars the British government would do well to learn the lessons of its recent abject failures and join calls for a diplomatic solution to the crisis as Stop the War Convenor, Lindsey German wrote in her MI6 over the weekend that Putin plans to install a puppet regime in Kyiv following a war has been treated with derision by the supposed puppet, who is the subject of Russian sanctions, and clearly is regarded with some incredulity in press reports. It coincides with Boris Johnson trying to raise Britain’s profile in the warmongering stakes, in order to distract from his domestic travails.”

The evidence from the ongoing war in Yemen is also damning. Britain has maintained wholehearted support for the ruthless Saudi regime since the start of the war almost seven years ago and looks set to continue that support despite a wave of recent airstrikes killing over 100 civilians, including a targeted bombing of a detention centre. Rubbing salt into open wounds the UK foreign minister James Cleverly met with the Saudi Ambassador to Yemen this week to discuss their “shared goal of peace and security in Yemen” – callous at best.

Elsewhere in the Middle East, Britain TA2HZ-BZGTwSc-tEkKU”>continues to bomb Syria and Iraq. A recent Drone Wars UK anaylsis of Ministry of Defence accounts for 2020/21 show that the cost of UK operations in Iraq and Syria since 2014 has now topped £2 billion, with the UK carrying out 54 air strikes across the two countries last year. Why is taxpayers money still being spent bombing countries thousands of miles away with no oversight or due process whatsoever? Civilians will inevitably be caught up in these attacks and recent events in Afghanistan demonstrate just how flawed an approach this is to fostering stability in a country. It must end now.

With all this in mind we must do all we can to strengthen the anti-war movement in Britain. We must demand that the British government pull themselves away from the military priorities of the USA by developing an independent, peaceful foreign policy.

If you agree and want to help us further this demand you can do so by becoming a member of Stop the War today (if you’re not one already) or affiliating your local group or trade union branch. With our AGM coming up in April (Sat 23rd) now is the ideal time to get involved with Stop the War and have your say on the future direction of the coalition. 

This Week’s Anti-War Briefing