They all agree on one thing: don't mention the war

STOP THE WAR COALITION
Email glasgowstopwar@gmail.com
Web: http://stopwar.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk

IN THIS NEWSLETTER:
1) STEPPING UP STOP THE WAR'S ELECTION CAMPAIGN
2) NATIONAL TOUR – GLASGOW MEETING: WHY THE TROOPS SHOULD BE OUT OF AFGHANISTAN
3) ASTOUNDING RESPONSE TO ELECTION SURVEY
4) SPECIAL ELECTION RESOURCES
5) CRUEL PRISON TREATMENT OF SOLDIER JOE GLENTON
6) IT'S OFFICIAL: THROWING SHOES AS A PROTEST IS ALLOWED
7) WATCHING THIS VIDEO ANGER CALCIFIES THE HEART - Wikileaks

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1) STEPPING UP STOP THE WAR'S ELECTION CAMPAIGN

Hardly any of the politicians vying for our votes in this
election have mentioned the war in Afghanistan, even as the
country sinks further into a quagmire of destruction and
wasted lives, with the rate of British soldiers being killed
double what it was a year ago.

We are stepping up our campaign to raise the profile of the
war as an election issue and to get the candidates to state
their views publicly on Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and other
anti-war issues, which many people will want to know when
deciding how to cast their vote.

Stop the War now has available a range of election special
resources (see below). Our Cost of War briefing card has
proved so popular that it sold out within a few days and is
now being reprinted.

They all agree on one thing: don't mention the war http://stopwar.org.uk/content/view/1817/1/


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2) GLASGOW PUBLIC MEETING:
WHY THE TROOPS SHOULD BE OUT OF AFGHANISTAN?

WEDNESDAY 21 APRIL, 7.30 PM
STUC, 333 WOODLANDS ROAD, GLASGOW

Participants include:

Jane Shallice, UK Stop the War Coalition
Joan Humphreys, whose grandson whose grandson Kevin Elliott, a 24-year-old Black Watch private, was killed in Afghanistan in 2009, speaks from Military Families Against War
Mohammed Asif, Scottish Afghan Society

Candidates from all parties standing in the forthcoming election will be invited to participate from the audience.

HELP FUND THE COSTS OF THIS MEETING AND GENERAL ELECTION MATERIALS BY MAKING A DONATION AT http://glasgowstopwar.express.iristickets.co.uk/
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3) ASTOUNDING RESPONSE TO ELECTION SURVEY

In just a few days, we have had an astounding response to our
Election Candidates Survey. Close to 4000 emails to candidates
have been sent already, asking where they stand on
Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran and other anti-war issues.

This is a reflection of the anger many voters must feel seeing
all the main parties ignore what should be a key issue in the
election.

If you haven't sent a message to your local candidates yet,
requesting they tell you what their view is of this country's
current war policies, we urge you to do so now. It takes just
1-2 minutes here: http://bit.ly/8X35fk

The more people pressure candidates, the more they will feel
they have to respond. Please forward the link to or Candidates
Survey to everyone you know and encourage them to send their
message.

As we get the responses from candidates, they will be
publicised on the Stop the War website, and we will name and
shame those who have remained silent.

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4) SPECIAL ELECTION RESOURCES

Stop the War has produced a range of election special
resources for our campaign to force the war in Afghanistan
onto the election agenda. These are all available from the
national office: Tel: 020 7801 2768

* AFGHANISTAN: THE COST OF WAR This briefing card has proved
so popular that it sold out within days. It is now being
reprinted.

* PETITION: DON'T THEY KNOW THERE'S A WAR ON - BRING THE
TROOPS HOME A petition for downloading to print and collect
signatures in your work, school, college, community etc.
Download here:

* AFGHANISTAN: 10 REASONS WHY THE TROOPS SHOULD COME HOME
A new pamphlet written by Steve Bell with a preface by Paul
Flynn MP. £2.50 incl p&p. BUY ONLINE: http://bit.ly/bGJTi3

* STOP THE WAR'S PRINTED NEWSLETTER We produce a by-monthly
printed edition newsletter, the latest issue of which is an
election special (50p. Reduced rate for 5 or more copies). If
you've not seen the printed newsletter before, back issues are
available here: http://bit.ly/c4r9Ot

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5) CRUEL PRISON TREATMENT OF SOLDIER JOE GLENTON
.
Joe Glenton, the British soldier who refused to return to
fight in Afghanistan because he believed the war to be
unjustified and unwinnable, is receiving cruel treatment at
the hands of military prison staff, following his court
martial and sentence to nine months imprisonment.

The prison authorities are trying to force him to sleep under
an unwashed or dirty blanket - a punishment that often leads
prisoners to get body lice - and to wear boots despite the
fact he has broken his toe. This follows a disciplinary
hearing following what his legal team say is the trumped up
claim that Joe insulted an officer.

Please send complaints about the way Joe is being treated in
prison to: mctcwelfare@hotmail.com.

To send Joe a message of support and for background and
updates on his case, go to: http://bit.ly/dgLAck

Joe's legal team is lodging an appeal against his jail
sentence, at which Stop the War will be organising a protest
calling for his immediate release.

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6) IT'S OFFICIAL: THROWING SHOES AS A PROTEST IS ALLOWED

Seventy protestors face imprisonment for their involvement in
the demonstrations in January 2009 against Israel's onslaught
on Gaza, but one after another the cases are falling apart.

In the latest, Student Aquib Salim, 21, was likely to face
prison for throwing a shoe at the Israeli Embassy but, as the
Sunday Times reported (see http://bit.ly/b6b2h0 ), not now it
has been revealed that the Metropolitan Police had said
previously that throwing shoes as a sign of protest was
permitted.

For background and updates to the Gaza Protestors Defence
Campaign, see: http://bit.ly/d1FqIA

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7) WATCHING THIS VIDEO ANGER CALCIFIES THE HEART

The video released by Wikileaks showing airmen in US
helicopters slaughtering Iraqi civilians with unrestrained
glee, is shocking enough in itself, but it is only unique in
the footage we can now watch and hear which makes the atrocity
irrefutable, unlike the countless occasions when Iraqis -- and
Afghans -- have reported equivalent atrocities and were
ignored.

See the video and the comments of Haifa Zangana, Iraqi
novelist and former prisoner under Saddam Hussein, who tells
how watching it made anger calcify in her heart:
http://bit.ly/9iUnkT

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LOBBY YOUR ELECTION CANDIDATES HERE: http://bit.ly/8X35fk