[JNV] Help needed 24 Feb / Events / 'Threatening Tehran' JNV Briefing
JNV
info at j-n-v.org
Sat, 17 Feb 2007 12:02:14 +0000
1) HELP NEEDED ON 24 Feb LONDON MARCH
Maya and Mil banned from Central LondonDear friends
2) REGULAR EVENTS
3) UPCOMING EVENTS
4) JNV BRIEFING ON US ALLEGATIONS AGAINST IRAN
Please find below our events listings, an appeal for help
and a briefing giving some background to the current
allegations against Iran.
A longer briefing on the allegations is available on our
website www.j-n-v.org.
If you are intending to participate in the 24 February march
in London against nuclear weapons and the Iraq war, JNV
would be very grateful for your help. Please see the
message below.
We've been trying to send out this announcement for
several days, but unfortunately have been blocked
by technical problems.
Best wishes
Emily Johns
Maya Evans
Milan Rai
JNV
******
HELP NEEDED ON 24 Feb LONDON MARCH
Maya and Mil banned from Central London
At the major anti-war demonstrations, Justice Not Vengeance hands
out free briefings and leaflets, and sells anti-war books and badges.
We often appeal for help in doing this - for the next London march
this is even more necessary than usual because two of our most
active hander-outers are banned from the borough of Westminster
at the moment, and are therefore unable to participate.
Until their trial on 10 April for breaking the Serious Organized Crime and
Police Act last October (they were reading the names of people who had
died in the Iraq war within the restricted zone near Parliament), Maya
and Mil are not allowed to set foot in the entire borough of Westminster,
and the march on the 24th takes place entirely within the borough.
If you can help distribute materials or take a shift on a stall, we'd be
very grateful. You can meet the JNV team under Marble Arch between
12 noon and 12.30 to pick up materials, or contact us in advance by
calling 01424 428 792 or emailing info AT j-n-v.org with your phone number.
Thank you,
Emily, Maya, Mil
******
REGULAR EVENTS
Every Month, ALDERMASTON: New Monthly Camp at Britain's
Atomic Weapons Establishment(AWE) to add further pressure
to the /Block the Builders/ campaign to halt development of the
next generation of nuclear weapons. Contact 0845 4588 368 or
www.blockthebuilders.org.uk.
Every Sunday LONDON Freedom to protest picnics in Parliament
Square. In defence of the right to protest, recently criminalised
under s132 of the Serious Organised Crime and Police Act
(April 2005). Bring food, drink and music to share. 1.30pm,
Parliament Square, Westminster. For more info contact
0785 439 0408, marshall_darkness@hotmail.com or visit
www.peopleincommon.org
Every Wednesday MOULSCOMBE Noise Demo Outside EDO
MB- 'an arms company that makes bomb parts used in the Iraq war
(Guardian). 4-6pm, EDO MBM, Home Farm Road. Contact
07891 1405 923. www.smashedo.org.uk
First Sunday or every month LONDON Walk in peace. A slow,
silent walk for peace in peace.Meet at 11.00am, Speakers Corner
Café, Speakers Corner, Hyde Park, London. (Nearest tube Marble
Arch) Walk for an hour returning to starting place at 12 noon.
Contact: Clare 020 8755 0353 or e-mail beatricemillar@freeuk.com.
Every Monday LONDON Monday Love Screenings- a free weekly
politically inspired film & music night at The Good Ship on Kilburn
High Road, NW6 (tube: Kilburn). 'Sir! No Sir!' (19 Feb), 'A Letter to
the Prime Minister: Jo Wilding's Diary from Iraq' (12 Mar) and
'Rob Newman's History of Oil' (26 Mar). All screenings start at 7pm.
See http://tinyurl.com/ynx7c9 for complete listings. Organised by
London Indymedia, Filmmakers Against War, Spiritual Kids and
IFIwatch.tv. Contact euan2000@onetel.com
First Saturday of every month EASTBOURNE Peace Vigil outside
Eastbourne Library 5-6pm. Organised by Eastbourne for Peace
and Liberty. Contact michael3col@yahoo.co.uk or 01323 430040.
Every Friday BRISTOL Vigil Outside Offices of RAYTHEON, one of world's
biggest arms manufacturers and a major supplier of arms to Israel. 8am, on
the UWE/Bristol Business Park roundabout, Coldharbour Lane. Email:
jandamarra@riseup.net.
Every Month LONDON Monthly Meetings of Iraq Occupation Focus. Second
Thursday of every month. Next two meetings: 7.30pm, 8 Feb and 8 Mar. Venue:
Indian YMCA, 41 Fitzroy Square, W1T 6AQ. See www.iraqoccupationfocus.org.uk
******
UPCOMING EVENTS
Feb- 27 Aug LONDON State Britain. Art exhibit by Mark Wallinger
recreating peace campaigner Brian Haw's vigil display as it was prior to its
destruction by police last year, including over 600 weather-beaten banners,
photographs, peace flags and messages from well-wishers. 10am - 5.50pm, Tate
Britain, Millbank, SW1P 4RG. See http://tinyurl.com/2xmlu5
Tues 13 Feb- Sat 19 May AROUND THE UK Events with former
Guantanamo Bay Prisoner Moazzam Begg
-Tues 20 Feb, LONDON SOAS talk and book signing. School of
Oriental and African Studies, Russell Square. Part of SOAS
Guantanamo week
- 24 Feb, BELFAST
- 4 Mar, BATH Conversation with Frank Furedi at the Bath
Literature Festival. 2.30pm, Guildhall. Tickets £8. See
http://tinyurl.com/vo3ga
- 17 Mar KESWICK 'Guantanamo and Back.' Main House at the
Theatre by the Lake. Part of Keswick’s Words by the Water
Literature Festival.
- 14 May LIVERPOOL Writing on the Wall Festival (WoW).
7:30-9pm.www.writingonthewall.org.uk
- 19 May BRISTOL
Tues 20 Feb - Tues 27 Feb HASTINGS Chomsky Course. A course of participatory talks
with author and activist Milan Rai ('Chomsky's Politics', 'War Plan Iraq'
and '7/7: The London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq War'):
'How to fight propaganda' (20 Feb); and 'Making a New World' (27 Feb).
All talks 7-9pm, Reading Room, Claremont Art Space, 12 Claremont, by the
Hastings Library. Cost: £4 / £2.50 per session or £15 / £8 for all four
sessions. For more info: milanrai@btinternet.com
Sat 24 Feb LONDON No Trident- Troops out of Iraq
National demo organised by CND and Stop The War.
Assemble 12 noon from Hyde Park, Speakers Corner.
See www.cnduk.org www.stopwar.org.uk
Tues 20 Feb HOUNSLOW STW Public Speakers: Craig Murray
(Former UK ambassador to Uzbekistan), Chris Nineham STW,
Walter Wolfgang Labour Party NEC Meeting 7.30PM
Montague Hall, Montague Road, Hounslow ( next to multi-storey
car park, 5 minutes from Hounslow Central tube)
Wed 21 Feb LONDON Metropolitan Uni Public Meeting 5.00PM
City Campus Students Met Uni Union Building Bring the Troops
Home: Stop Trident Speakers: Gearoge Galloway MP, George
Solomou Military Families Against the War Tel Kate
07834 218 711
Tues 20 Feb LONDON Queen Mary's Uni Public Meeting 5pm
Student Union Building Bring the Troops Home: Stop Trident
Speakers: George Galloway MP George Solomou MFAW
Contact Kate 07834 218 711
Mon 19 March AROUND THE WORLD Global day of Action
Against the "War on Terror" on the 4th anniversary of the
invasion of Iraq. To find out what's happening in Britain on this
day see http://m19wiki.pbwiki.com.
Thurs 22 Mar - Thurs 24 May LONDON Haldane Society Human Rights Lectures.
All lectures: 6.30pm, London South Bank University Keyworth Centre, Keyworth
Street, London SE1 (tube: Elephant and castle, see http://tinyurl.com/2cud7g
for map). Entrance free:
- Thurs 22 Mar: 'Israel, Palestine and Human Rights' with Daniel Machover and
Hannah Rought-Brookes
- Thurs 26 Apr: 'Northern Ireland, human rights and the democracy deficit' with
Professor Conor Gearty
- Thurs 24 May: 'Guantanamo Bay - close it down' with Moazzam Begg and Sadat
Sayeed.
Tues 10 April LONDON Trial of peace activists Maya Anne Evans and Milan Rai, charged
with organising and / or participating in an "unauthorised" demonstration
within 1km of Parliament during last October's "No More Fallujahs"
anti-occupation camp in Parliament Square. 2pm, Horseferry Magistrates
Court, 70 Horseferry Road, SW1P 2AX. See <www.j-n-v.org> Support very welcomed.
April - July LONDON 'Bloody Terrorists'- TERRORISM IN CONTEXT.
A series of public lectures chaired by Professor Ziauddin Sardar (School of
Arts, The City University). All lectures: 6 - 8pm, Oliver Merton Hall, The
City University, Northampton Square, EC1V 0HB.
- Wed 25 Apr: 'Where Do Terrorists Come From?' by Milan Rai (Director, Justice
Not Vengeance, and author of 7/7: The London Bombings, Islam and the Iraq
War)
- Wed 9 May: 'Wretched Earth: Terrorism, Wretchedness and Political Philosophy'
by Professor Ted Honderich (University College, London
-Wed 23 May: 'Terrorism and Islam: The British Muslim Experience' by Yahya
Birt, (Director, City Circle and Research Fellow, Islamic Foundation)
-Wed 6 Jun: 'Martyrs of Postculture: Analysing the Terrorist' by Dr Richard
Appignanesi (Associate Editor, Third Text)
- Wed 20 Jun: 'Reporting Terror: How the Media Covers Terrorism' by Professor
Adrian Monck (Department of Journalism, The City University)
- Wed 4 Jul: 'Cultural Terrorism and Terrorism of Culture' by Ms Merryl Wyn
Davies (anthropologist and writer, co-author of "Why Do People Hate
America?" and "American Dream, Global Nightmare")
******
JNV BRIEFING 102
THREATENING TEHRAN: BLAMING IRAN FOR US FAILURE IN IRAQ
JNV Anti-War Briefing 102 (8 February 2007)
FROM IRAQ, DOWNHILL TO IRAN
Former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski:
'If the US stays bogged down in Iraq, the final destination on this
downhill track is likely to be head-on conflict with Iran and with the
broader world of Islam. A plausible scenario for a military collision
with Iran involves Iraqi failure to meet US benchmarks [in other words,
US failure in Iraq]; followed by US accusations of Iranian responsibility
for the failure; then by some provocation in Iraq or a terrorist act in
the US blamed on Iran. This could culminate in "defensive" US military
action against Iran that plunges a lonely America into a deepening
quagmire eventually encompassing Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan and Pakistan.'
(Financial Times, 2 Feb. 2007, p. 15 <http://tinyurl.com/2xu5w3>)
It is not clear what Brzezinski means by 'some provocation in Iraq', but
recent US actions and public statements have been sharply provocative.
SEIZING IRANIANS
'A number of Iranians were arrested in the Iraqi capital on 21 December
[2006], when US forces raided a compound belonging to Abdul Aziz
Hakim, leader of a powerful pro-Iranian Shia party... Officials told Newsnight
the arrests produced highly important intelligence, but no "smoking gun"
about weapons supplies or attacks on coalition forces. They said that the
arrested men were in Iraq to hold high-level meeting with representatives
of several Iraqi Shia factions.'
Iranian diplomats were among the arrested - they were released rapidly, but
the US 'continued for some time' to hold two alleged intelligence officers.
(BBC News Online, 4 Jan. 2007 <tinyurl.com/2zgppz>)
It then emerged that the Iranians had been invited to Baghdad by Iraqi
President Jalal Talabani. (Reuters, 26 Dec. 2006 <tinyurl.com/ya5sf9>)
Three weeks later, US soldiers raided a building in Irbil, Iraqi Kurdistan,
seizing five Iranians, computers and documents. 'Iranian and Iraqi officials
said the building was an Iranian consulate and the detainees its employees.'
(BBC News Online, 11 Jan. 2007 <tinyurl.com/2736k2>)
'The Iraqi Foreign Minister, Hoshiyar Zebari, called yesterday for the
Iranians to be freed, stressing that they have been working with
Iraqi government approval.' (Independent, 15 Jan. 2007, p. 23
<tinyurl.com/2yklq2>)
KILLING IRANIANS
Having failed to provoke Iran into responding aggressively, President Bush
escalated the crisis.
'The belief that George Bush's troops "surge" policy in Iraq is also aimed at
confronting Iran was strengthened yesterday when the White House
declared that it was "going to deal" with the actions of the Tehran regime.
In a series of interviews, Vice-President Dick Cheney, the Secretary of State
Condoleezza Rice, and the National Security Adviser, Stephen Hadley,
struck belligerent notes on Iranian activity inside Iraq.'
'Mr Hadley did not rule out the possibility of US forces striking across the
border' in so-called "hot pursuit". (Independent, 15 Jan. 2007, p. 23
<tinyurl.com/2yklq2>. A suggestion withdrawn later: Times, 2 Feb., p. 40)
'Asked about reports that he had authorised a "kill or capture" policy
against Iranians inside Iraq, Mr Bush did not deny it, but rather appeared
to defend the decision. "It makes sense that if somebody is trying to harm
our troop or stop us from achieving our goals or killing innocent citizens
in Iraq, that we will stop them".' (Times, 27 Jan. 2007 p. 50)
How would the US react if Iranian forces seized computers
and documents from the US Embassy in Baghdad, detaining US
diplomats? How would the US react if Iran authorised a
"kill or capture" policy against US officials and troops inside Iraq?
The intention seems to be to kidnap more officials, and, soon, to kill
one - in order to provoke Iran into actions or statements that can
be converted into a justification for a major US assault.
NO EVIDENCE? ISSUE ANOTHER DOSSIER
Bush says: 'If Iran escalates its military action in Iraq to the detriment of
our troops and/or innocent Iraqi people, we will respond firmly.'
(Guardian, 30 Jan. 2007, p. 15 <tinyurl.com/ysszxt>)
The assumption is that Iran is already engaged in military action in Iraq.
'The Bush administration believes Teheran is fuelling the insurgency
by supplying Shia militias with weapons, money, bomb-making equipment
and expertise.' (Telegraph, 27 Jan. 2007, p. 18 <tinyurl.com/2rbbtw>)
In Jan. 2006, The Times and the Independent both reported that British
officials in Iraq had withdrawn this claim, and in particular the assertion
that Iran was supplying a new and more deadly design of roadside bomb
with infrared triggers which cannot be disrupted by US/UK technology.
(BBC News Online, 10 Jan. 2006 <tinyurl.com/2wgxca>)
A year later, 'Senior British officials, citing mistakes over Saddam
Hussein's alleged weapons of mass destruction, are voicing scepticism
about US efforts to build an intelligence-based case against Iran... Amid
signs of a concerted American operation to prove that Iran is threatening
US troops in the region, British officials say that they are "not aware of a
smoking gun" that would justify taking military action against Tehran.'
(Times, 1 Feb. 2007, p. 38 <tinyurl.com/ypl5kx>)
Just as with the 2003 invasion of Iraq, there are divisions within the
Bush administration: 'The rift has spilled over into a dispute about how
and when to publish alleged evidence of Iranian backing for Iraqi militias
and Iran's provision of supplies and technology for roadside bombs, the
biggest killer of American soldiers in Iraq, a White House adviser revealed...
The State Department and the CIA, which both objected to the way the
Bush administration used pre-war intelligence on Iraq, also wanted to
publicise clear evidence of Iranian interference in Iraq as a way of justifying
the US stance. "The military's highest echelons really do not want the
release of details of what Iran is up to as they don't want the Iranians to
know what's working and what's not," the administration adviser said.'
'Stephen Hadley, Mr Bush's national security adviser, acknowledged
on Friday that the intelligence briefing on Iranian interference in Iraq -
publication of which has been delayed twice - was still being refined.'
(Sunday Telegraph, 4 Feb. p. 24 <tinyurl.com/36yh2j>)
The history of such "dossiers" is not promising. Bronwen Maddox notes
that even the independent International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS)
issued a 'dossier' on Iraqi WMD 'which was authoritative and detailed,
and soon proved wrong comprehensively.' (Times, 1 Feb., p 38
<tinyurl.com/2b5wwm>)
Maddox points out that the IISS has predicted Iran is 'at least two or
three years' away from acquiring a nuclear bomb: 'That is the answer it
has given for each of the past three years; it is reassuring that every year
the threatening date is just as far in the future.'
DIVISIONS IN WASHINGTON
Condoleezza Rice, US Secretary of State, and Bob Gates, the new Defence
Secretary are said to be pushing for open talks with Iran, 'having softened
it up with the recent application of United Nations-approved sanctions
on Iran and the beefing up of US naval forces off the Iranian coast'.
Richard Haass, head of policy planning in the State Department in the
first Bush administration, says: 'You could interpret Bush's recent actions
towards Iran in two ways - either he is increasing pressure on the regime
in order to soften it up for talks over its uranium enrichment plans, or
this is classic gunboat diplomacy in which the US is preparing for some
kind of punitive action. My guess is that Mr Bush's actions leave room for
either scenario and the Bush administration remains divided over which
to pursue.'
Afshin Molavi of the New America Foundation warns: 'The danger to
this strategy is that it carries the risk of accidentally leading into some
kind of military confrontation.' (All references this section from the
Financial Times, 27 Jan., p. 7 <tinyurl.com/2cb9pd>)
On the other hand, raiding an Iranian consulate, kidnapping and
threatening to kill Iranian officials, and deploying two US navy carrier battle-
groups to the region for the first time since mid-2003 (Paul Rogers
<tinyurl.com/29brym>) seem to lean towards provoking a clash.
'A diplomatic source in Washington told The Times: "It is difficult to
imagine Bush and Cheney leaving office without resolving the Iranian issue,
if necessary by force." ' (Times, 31 Jan., p. 34 <tinyurl.com/28sde7>)
There are alternatives. 'The IAEA chief, Mohamed El-Baradei, called at
the weekend for a "timeout" in the worsening confrontation in an attempt
to enable both sides to save face and climb down. But the Americans
rejected the proposal.' (Guardian, 31 Jan., p. 17 <tinyurl.com/236vxu>)