On Thursday 10th April, at 3 p.m., a military convoy carrying bombs for use in Iraq was stopped en route from RAF Welford to RAF Fairford in Gloucestershire. Five anti –war activists from Bristol blocked the A417 near Cirencester with a car. Two of the group chained themselves underneath their vehicle with bike locks. Police escorting the convoy soon arrived on the scene. One officer was heard to say “Shit, we’ve been looking for this sort of thing all week, and now it happens on our own back doorstep!” It took them 45 minutes to remove the activists with hydraulic cutters and clear the blockade. Four activists were arrested for obstruction of the highway. All were later released, three without charge, but one still facing charges.
This action was carried out as part of continued widespread opposition to the bombing of the Iraqi people. Bombs dropped by B52 bombers flying from RAF Fairford do not discriminate between military targets and civilians. There is no such thing as precision bombing, as events of the past few weeks have proved. Most casualties in any war are civilians and thousands of normal Iraqi people have been killed. This is not “liberation” by the forces of freedom and democracy. This is mass murder.
Despite the apparent collapse of the regime in Iraq, two convoys containing bombs arrived at RAF Fairford yesterday. These weapons of mass destruction continue to be used in the unjustified and illegal attack on Iraq. War without end?
Millions of people have objected to this war but the US and UK governments have consistently ignored worldwide calls for peace. Widespread direct action can have a real impact on the war machine. The people involved in the blockade yesterday believe it is up to normal people to work towards a world without the destruction and terror caused by war.
FFI contact Kebele 0117 9399469
