From the February issue of The Respect PaperAfghan death toll mounts as inquiry confirms Blair's guiltMore blood on Labour's hands
As we go to press, NATO officials have confirmed that a missile fired by US troops in the assault on Marjah has left at least 12 Afghan civilians killed.
The US troops say they fired rockets at suspected militants, but missed and hit a crowd of civilians 300 metres away.US commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal expressed regret over the killings. The deaths come days after NATO blanketed the region with leaflets urging civilians to "stay put."
This murder of Afghan civilians in Obama's surge is combined with both politicians and military spokesmen (well they all are!) preparing the public at home with the stark reality that more British and American troops will lose their lives in the offensive.
Respect was born out of the anti-war movement, and we are sickened that the warmongers are continuing their relentless policies in Afghanistan with seeming impunity.
This was the message that Respect's leader Salma Yaqoob sent to the demonstration outside the Chilcot enquiry as Bliar was appearing:
"It was Blair's lies over Iraq, his contempt for British public opinion, and his indifference to the suffering war would bring, that spurred me, and lots more other like me, into political activism.
Culpable
"The Chilcot enquiry is shining only the faintest light on what we all knew already - the complicity of politicians in lying to justify war. And no single individual is more culpable than Tony Blair.
"He should be facing criminal charges for all the pain and suffering he has caused whether to the families of Iraqis, Afghans or British service men and women.
"For a man so obsessed with his own legacy, it is fitting that he will only be ultimately remembered for his deceit, vanity and deference to a particularly dim witted and cruel US president.
"The lesson for me from all the events post 9/11 is that our political establishment cannot be trusted.
"The only hope for peace lies with ordinary people organising to ensure it is the drive for peace that shapes our political agenda, not the drive for war."
Respect's candidates in the forthcoming General Election will be speaking out and campaigning against the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq - and demanding that the troops are withdrawn, and the money that is being wasted in the deserts of those countries is spent on public services.
Come and support us and other anti-war candidates and make our voices heard.
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