"He who joyfully marches to music rank and file, has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice. This disgrace to civilization should be done away with at once. Heroism at command, how violently I hate all this, how despicable and ignoble war is; I would rather be torn to shreds than be a part of so base an action. It is my conviction that killing under the cloak of war is nothing but an act of murder." Einstein
MAY 19 1pm, US embassy, Grosvenor Square, London WC1
Protest: Troops out of Afghanistan - Don't Attack Iran - No intervention in the Middle East
Stop the War and CND has called this protest to support the US movement and to demand an end to NATO's disastrous policies.
May 19/20: Thousands of people will be demonstrating in Chicago on the weekend as NATO officials gather
for a crucial conference.
Military action against Iran will be high on NATO's agenda. New big power negotiations with Iran show that popular concern about an attack is having an
impact. But still the right in the US and Israel favour an attack. For Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu, Iran is 'an existential threat'. The Republican
leadership in the US is unanimously in favour of 'tough action'.
Pressure for NATO military intervention in Syria is growing. NATO is masquerading as a champion of democracy in Syria, despite the fact that NATO
countries are backing dictators across from Bahrein and Saudi to Yemen. The West is already funding the opposition in Syria. Direct military intervention
will inflame the fighting; its only aim will be to increase the Western powers' grip on the region.
The Afghan disaster will also be discussed in Chicago. Though the war is clearly lost, occupying forces are set to stay in Afghanistan for at least two
more years. Keeping NATO troops in place will inevitably lead to more atrocities and destruction and as ex diplomat Carne Ross argued recently, make
a negotiated peace much more difficult. The threat of a further war is growing.
