march to stop the military academy

Stop the War NOW: MARCH TO STOP THE UK MILITARY ACADEMY
Mass demonstration called by Stop the St Athan Military Academy Campaign
Supported by UK Stop the War Coalition
Assemble 1.30 pm, Cathays Park
(opposite Museum/City Hall, Cardiff Saturday 26 April

Anti-metrix protest, Bring placards, banners, drums, people etc

In the summer of 2006, hundreds of people protested in Cardiff against the war on Lebanon. The Israeli military dropped half-a-million cluster bombs on Lebanon supplied by arms companies like Raytheon. Now Raytheon has been invited to Wales by the Welsh Assembly Government to help run a huge, privatised military academy near Cardiff. It's time to get back onto the streets! Anything we can do in Wales to prevent the State waging war on its terms can only be of help to those resisting in the frontline in the Middle East and beyond.

Stop the St Athan Military Academy Campaign supporters include:
Aberystwyth Peace & Justice Network, Bangor Peace & Justice GroupCaernarfon Peace & Justice Group, Cardiff Anarchist Network, Cardiff Justice & Peace Group, Cardiff RESPECT/Left Party, Church Action Against Poverty, CND Cymru, CND (Swansea), Communist Party of Wales, Cymdeithas y Cymod (Fellowship of Reconciliation Wales), Cymdeithas yr Iaith (Welsh Language Society), Cynefin y Werin, Green Party (Wales), Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign, Penarth Justice & Peace Group, Permanent Revolution, Quakers (Caerleon), RESPECT/Left Party, Socialist Labour Party (Wales), South Wales Anarchists, Stop the War Coalition (UK), Stop the War (Bristol)Stop the War (Cardiff), Stop the War (Swindon), Stop the War (Wrekin), Women in Black (Abergavenny), Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, Wrexham Peace & Justice Centre

To add your name or organisation to the list of supporters or for more information about the campaign, email: no2militaryacademy@inbox.com
Imagine a world in which the armed forces are trained by arms dealers.And we subsidise their profits.

That world will become reality unless we stop the proposed school of death at St Athan.The creation of a military super-academy at St Athan, between Cardiff and Swansea, was announced as a done deal in January 2007. Despite the fact this represented the biggest PFI in history, involving £14 billion of taxpayers' money, there had been no debate in either Westminster or the Welsh Assembly (Senedd). A promise of 5500 local jobs was trumpeted loudly by an uncritical news media and presented as a great victory for Wales.

No wonder the politicians didn't want any debate. The new super-academy, replacing many smaller centres, means that military training will now be in the hands of shameless profiteers.The winning bidders for the project were the Metrix consortium. This consortium includes Qinetiq, the privatised research and development wing of the MoD. Qinetiq was recently the subject of intense criticism by the National Audit Office. Its privatisation was proposed by MoD managers – who then saw their shares rise 10,000% on the day of the sale! 33.8% of Qinetiq was also bought by the US-based Carlyle Group, a sinister lash-up of politicians and arms dealers with a vested interest in promoting war.Former members of its board include one George W. Bush.

Then there is the US arms manufacturer Raytheon. Raytheon make the missiles which deliver cluster bombs, the horrendous weapons which are estimated to have killed 100,000 people – 98% of them innocent civilians. The world can also thank Raytheon for the depleted uranium weapons which have led to thousands of horribly deformed babies and large increases in cancers in war zones and beyond.Raytheon, Qinetiq and friends will not just be training UK armed forces at St Athan. They will train any soldiers, sailors and air force personnel that are willing to pay for the privilege. And like all PFIs, the St Athan academy will be subsidised by the taxpayer, and if necessary, bailed out with public money.There has never been a detailed breakdown of the jobs the academy will bring. However, even Metrix admit that many of the military trainers will relocate from elsewhere. Every PFI has secured profits by cutting costs. St Athan will mean less MoD jobs overall, and the poorest pay and conditions for lowskilled workers.

In any case, imagine what else could be done with £14 billion! With hospitals and schools closing throughout Wales and the UK, with a desperate need to improve social facilities, create sustainable sources of energy etc, such public money could be invested in socially useful projects rather than the preparation for future wars of occupation like Iraq.
If this development goes ahead, 21 st century Wales will be become a militarised, security-obsessed nightmare. If you want to stop the war profiteers in their tracks, support the campaign and raise it in your union, student union, workplace and community.

Ibrahin Mousawi visit to cardiff criticised by tories and orthodox rabbi

‘We don’t want people preaching politics of hate in our county’
Mar 1 2008 by David James, South Wales Echo
A CONTROVERSIAL journalist dubbed “a spokesman for terrorists” is to speak in Cardiff on Monday.

In defence of ‘freedom fighters’ Mar 1 2008 by David James, South Wales Echo IBRAHIM Mousawi said he was coming to Cardiff with a message of peace and denied Hezbollah were terrorists.

Channel 4 - News - Snowmail: Prince Harry in Afghanistan

Despite this, Mr Mousawi's here tonight, addressing a Stop the War Coalition rally - but first, he'll stop by the studio and explain how that squares with ...

Calls have been made to ban a controversial Middle Eastern figure ...

Mr Mousawi is said to edit Hezbollah's newspaper, Al-Intiqad, and to have been political editor of Al-Manar television, the group's main mouthpiece. ... www.thisisbristol.co.uk/displayNode.jsp?nodeId=144913&command=displayContent&sourceNode=231190... - 55k - 22 hours ago - MIDDLE EAST RESISTANCE LEADERS TO BRING ANTI WAR MESSAGE TO CARDIFF The man David Cameron has tried to ban from Britain will be speaking at a special public meeting in Cardiff on Monday about the need for activists around the world to oppose the “War on Terror” and get the troops out of Iraq and Afghanistan. Ibrahim Mousawi, editor of the Hizbollah newspaper Al-Intiqad (Criticism), is accused by Cameron of being a “vicous antisemite”, a charge he vehemently denies. “I have nothing against Jews. I have nothing against any human being, whether because of religion, gender or political affiliation,” said Mousawi, who recently invited five Jewish rabbis to a conference in Beirut and hosted their visit. Also appearing is Hassan Juma'a, the leader of the Iraqi Oil Workers Union which has campaigned against the privatisation of sections of the Iraqi Oil industry. They recently struck to demand that Iraqi oil stay in the hands of the people and remain a nationalised industry. “It was our duty as Iraqi workers to protect the oil installations since they are the property of the Iraqi people and we are sure that the US and the international companies have come here to put their hands on the country’s oil reserves.” The meeting, part of a UK-wide 'World Against War' tour, will unite these speakers with activists and trades unionists in what will be the biggest Stop the War event in South Wales since before the invasion of Iraq five years ago. “People like David Cameron attack Mousawi because Hizbollah has the arrogance to fight to defend Lebanon from invasion and devastation,” said Jonny Jones, one of the officers of the local Stop the War group. “In Iraq, people like Hassan Juma'a are fighting a daily battle to defend their country's resources from foreign plunder and for an end to the occupation that has cost a million lives and billions of pounds. British activists will be inspired to hear what these people have to say and they, in turn, will be able to take the solidarity of the British movement back to their countries.” They will be joined by members of the British anti-war movement including Professor Justin Lewis, Head of the Cardiff School of Journalism, Media and Cultural Studies, whose work includes extensive research into the pro-war bias of much of the mainstream media. Also speaking are Anne Greagsby of campaign against the St Athan Military Academy and Chris Nineham from the Stop the War Coalition. The meeting will take place on Monday, March 3rd at 7.30pm in the Main Law Lecture Theatre, Law Building, Cardiff University, Park Place, Cardiff. A coach will be available from Swansea, which will leave the front of Fulton House on Swansea University's Singleton Campus at 6.30pm. Admission is free and all are welcome. More quotes from Mr Mousawi: “I want to refute this notion that there is a ‘clash of civilizations’. I believe that all over the world, people want the same things. We all want to be with our families; we all want to come back to our kids at the end of the day and bring bread to their tables and give them a good education, to live in harmony and peace.” “We want genuine peace. We don’t want compromises and we don’t want to go again and again to the same vicious cycle every 10 years or five years, where you make a temporary settlement and you end up with another war coming. The roots of the problem, the roots of the cause of the problem, should be addressed.” “Governments should not censor what people have to say and confiscate the right of intelligent people to decide what to hear or not to hear. I’m a staunch defender of political freedoms and freedom of speech.”