APPEAL TO JOIN US IN PROTEST AT LAKENHEATH FROM 13TH TO 25TH JULY 2024.

Posted: 26th May 2024

RAF (in reality USAF) Lakenheath has been involved in a wide range of operations and prides itself as being “get out the door”. After the Hamas attacks on the 7 October 2023, F-15Es from Lakenheath landed at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan on the 13 October 2023 to bolster the US presence in the region.

You can find lots more information about the involvement of Lakenheath in multiple wars from the LAP website at https://lakenheathallianceforpeace.org.uk/about-lakenheath-base/

But to give you a nasty flavour:- In April 1986 planes from Lakenheath (F-111s) were involved in the bombing of Libya. After Iraq invaded Kuwait in 1990 planes from Lakenheath were involved in Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm. On 25 August 25 1990, 18 F-111s took off from Lakenheath as the first USAFE unit to deploy. During the operation, they flew 2,500 combat sorties, dropping 7.3 million pounds of bombs. They were also involved in imposing the no-fly zone over Iraq in the 1990s and the bombing of Serbia. Planes from Lakenheath were also deployed multiple times in Afghanistan and Iraq. F-15Es from Lakenheath were involved in the friendly fire incident in Afghanistan in 2007 which killed three British servicemen. Lakenheath is also involved in the campaign in Syria. For example, in 2018 they flew over 2,000 missions while dropping more than 500 bombs. In 2021, they shot down an ‘Iranian’ drone in Syria and in 2023 they also bombed Syria in response to attacks on US bases in the area. More recently (April 2024) they were involved in countering the Iranian strike on Israel. As well as joint exercises with NATO, planes from Lakenheath regularly do joint exercises with the Israeli and Saudi air forces.

The USA are now in the process of getting ready to receive US nuclear weapons to deploy from Lakenheath and so once again we are part of their nuclear machinations. This is why we are calling on all of you to bring as many activists as possible to our walk and camp from 13th to 25th July. Help us stop the nukes returning. Please sign on at https://lakenheathallianceforpeace.org.uk/sign-up/

With the crackdown on protest we need to support each other to continue taking nonviolent direct action. We are all conscious of the clear link between wars, climate chaos, biodiversity loss and environmental catastrophe. Please join us. If you need further information then pleas let me know.

Angie Zelter, Lakenheath Alliance for Peace. [email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>