CAAT: What Direction Are We Heading?

With 3,400 casualties in Iran, and 2000 in Lebanon. With homes, hospitals, civilian infrastructure destroyed across the region. With the genocide in Gaza still claiming lives…

The question must be asked: What direction are we heading?

With peace talks collapsing and tensions escalating, the drums of a prolonged regional conflict grow louder each day. The human toll has been clearly illustrated, but the economic impact on ordinary people in the UK and around the world, is yet to crystallize.

Whilst the blame is mostly attributed to the Trumps and Hegseths of the world, let’s consider what role the UK has been playing in this potentially cataclysmic battleground.

1 March: Starmer states the US could use UK military bases for a “specific and limited defensive purpose” – framed as destroying Iranian missiles “at source”

7 March: The UK Ministry of Defence confirms the US had begun using British bases operationally. B-1B Lancer bombers are reported at RAF Fairford, and US Central Command, CENTCOM confirms strikes deep inside Iran to “degrade Iranian ballistic missile capabilities.”

20 March: The authorisation is expanded. UK bases are now explicitly available for ‘defensive operations’

Let’s be clear about what this means: the UK is permitting the United States to bomb Iran from British soil. Once again, the UK is using the word ‘defensive’ to launder illegal military aggression as self-defence – and we should not let that pass unchallenged

What makes this worse is the timing. Civilian casualties – including the unlawful US strike on a school in Minab, killing 168 people (majority of which were children) – were already documented before Starmer signed off on the expanded authorisation. This wasn’t a decision made in the fog of war. It was a choice, made with open eyes.

This is what CAAT exists for

Moments like this are exactly why our work matters – and why it has to continue.

We’re lobbying parliament, building legal cases, campaigning on the streets and producing research to make sure the gap between the government’s rhetoric and its actions will not be ignored.

And none of that happens without your support.

The arms industry has money, lobbyists, and government protection. And a desire to see us descend into all out war.

What we have is people like you. And a campaign to stop that from happening.

In Solidarity,

Hassan