Anti-War Events & Statement On Georgia

Anti-War Events & Statement On Georga
Events
1. 28/8/2008 20:00 Ireland Plaestine Solidarity Campaign Film Screening: Memory of the Cactus (al-Haq)
2. 28/8/2008 21:00 Anti-War & Charity Gig
3. 02/9/2008 20:30 PREMIERE OF PALESTINIAN FILM FOR GALWAY
4. 05/9/2008 28:00 Musicians Against War in Thomas Reads on Dame St.
News
1. Statement On Georgia – The birth of a New Cold War.
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News Articles
1. Statement on Georgia – The birth of a New Cold War.
CONFLICT IN THE CAUCASUS – A TALE OF A PROXY WAR with innocent people
slaughtered
Many Western politicians, among them Cheney, Brown and Miliband and much
of the Western media would have us believe that Russia is the aggressive
imperialist power and that the US and other Western powers are defending
Georgian democracy against outside invasion, with a nonchalant NATO

Anti-War Events & Statement On Georga
Events
1. 28/8/2008 20:00 Ireland Plaestine Solidarity Campaign Film Screening: Memory of the Cactus (al-Haq)
2. 28/8/2008 21:00 Anti-War & Charity Gig
3. 02/9/2008 20:30 PREMIERE OF PALESTINIAN FILM FOR GALWAY
4. 05/9/2008 28:00 Musicians Against War in Thomas Reads on Dame St.
News
1. Statement On Georgia – The birth of a New Cold War.
____________________________________________________________________________________________
News Articles
1. Statement on Georgia – The birth of a New Cold War.
CONFLICT IN THE CAUCASUS – A TALE OF A PROXY WAR with innocent people
slaughtered
Many Western politicians, among them Cheney, Brown and Miliband and much
of the Western media would have us believe that Russia is the aggressive
imperialist power and that the US and other Western powers are defending
Georgian democracy against outside invasion, with a nonchalant NATO
observing from the sidelines as a force for calm in the world. The truth
is more complex if not totally contrary to this view. While the nature and
extent of the Russian military response to the apparently unprovoked attack
by Saakashvili’s military on South Ossetia is highly questionable, it is
the sinister, creeping enlargement of NATO along the borders of Russia
that has provoked this conflict.
It must be emphasized that it was actually Georgia that began the war last
Thursday with an all-out attack on South Ossetia to “restore constitutional
order” and “fight the bandits” – in other words, rule over an area it has
never controlled since the collapse of the Soviet Union. Nor, amid the
political and media outrage at Russian bombardments, have there been much
more than the briefest references to the atrocities committed by Georgian
forces against citizens it claims as its own in South Ossetia’s capital
Tskhinvali. Several hundred civilians were killed there by Georgian troops
last week, along with Russian soldiers operating under a 1990s peace
agreement
You’d be hard put to recall after all the fury over Russian aggression
that it was actually Georgia that began the war with an all-out attack on
South Ossetia to “restore constitutional order” – in other words, rule
over an area it has never controlled since the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Nor, amid the outrage at Russian bombardments, have there been much more
than the briefest references to the atrocities committed by Georgian
forces against citizens it claims as its own in South Ossetia’s capital
Tskhinvali. Several hundred civilians were killed there by Georgian troops
along with Russian soldiers operating under a 1990s peace agreement More
civilians lost their lives when the Russians came in.
As always in wars, civilians are the main victims, while the promoters of
the armaments industry are the primary winners. Both the US and Russian
Governments care little about the needs of the people caught in the middle
of this war as they practice their Cold War type brinkmanship to the
benefit only of their respective industrial military complexes.
The Expanding Theatre of War
The conflict in Georgia is inextricably connected to the US-led,
falsely labelled “war on terror” being conducted in Afghanistan,
Iraq and Somalia – now threatening to engulf Iran – and which has become
George Bush’s steadily expanding theatre of war right up to the borders
of the Russian state. Leaving aside the hypocrisy of the US, whose
illegal occupation of both Iraqand Afghanistan continues, US support
for Georgia is driven, not by a desire to spread democracy, but by the
need to gain control of strategic regions and natural resources. The US
Government paid almost a billion dollars to have the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan
oil pipeline built, thus ensuring it ended in Turkey and hence under US
control, as opposed to the shorter, efficient route of Baku-Tbilisi-Suspa
which would have favoured Russia.
Israel, which brutally occupies Palestinian lands, also has a role in the
Georgia conflict. Jerusalem wants Caspian oil and gas pipelines to reach
the Turkish terminal port of Ceyhan, rather than the Russian network.
Intense negotiations are afoot between Israel, Turkey, Georgia, Turkmenistan
andAzerbaijan for pipelines to reach Turkey and thence to Israel’s oil
terminal at Ashkelon and on to its Red Sea port of Eilat.
US/Israeli advisors in Georgia
Since Georgia emerged as an independent state, US and Israeli military
advisers have become deeply embedded there in attempts to fashion it as a
client state to serve their interests in the region. The Harvard educated
Saakashvili, who is a US citizen, and the Georgian leadership are closely
linked with the neo-cons in the Pentagon. Georgia has sent no less than $0.9
billion to Randy Scheunemann, McCain’s top policy adviser, over the past
few years. Georgia’s forces are armed and trained by the US and Israel and
the US is also training Georgian troops in the Pankisi Gorge bordering
Chechnya.
Last year, the Georgian President commissioned from private Israeli security
firms an estimated 1,000 military advisers to train the Georgian armed forces
in commando, air, sea, armoured and artillery combat tactics. They also offer
instruction on military intelligence and security for the Tbilisi regime.
Tbilisi also purchased weapons, intelligence and electronic warfare systems
from Israel. These advisers were quite probably involved in the Georgian army’s
preparations to conquer the South Ossetian capital on 8 August. Moscowrepeatedly
demanded that Jerusalem halt its military assistance to Georgia, finally
threatening a crisis in bilateral relations. Israel responded by saying that
the only assistance rendered Tbilisi was “defensive.”
In return for US favours, Georgia has sent 2,500 troops to bolster the illegal
occupation of Iraq. It is the single biggest contingent in the occupying forces
after the US and Britain – hence the US need to airlift 800 of them back to fight
the Russians last week.
NATO’s creeping expansionism
The IAWM opposes the way in which Russia is using the extension of the ‘war on
terror’ to suppress separatist forces within its own borders – the obvious case
being the horrific destruction in Chechnya. However, it is the US that has
escalated this conflict by seeking to extend its influence in the Caucasus,
with its constant meddling in Georgia and its offer last April for it to become
a member of NATO. Bush, during the recent NATO meeting in Bucharest, pressed the
other NATO powers to place Georgia’s application for membership on the fast track.
The European leaders rejected the idea, understanding the geo-strategic implications
of pushing NATO’s boundaries right up to Russia’s border. If they had let Bush
have his way, NATO states would have been obligated to send troops in Georgia’s
defence. A World War could have so quickly developed. The fact that this situation
escalated so quickly to invasions and bombings is a reminder of just how dangerous
the world has become.
The manufacturing early this year of the independence of Kosovo by the US, supported
by most EU member states, further escalated tensions with Russia. Last week’s
Georgian-Russian conflict allowed the US to bully the Polish Government into accepting
a missile defence shield along Russia’s border, against the wishes of the majority of
it population. This can only be seen as an aggressive threat by the US reminiscent of
the worst days of the Cold War, likely to provoke an equally questionable response by
Russia.
Role of EU
Though divided on tactics, EU leaders are generally supportive of the US plans.
Condoleezza Rice persuaded Georgian president Saakashvili to sign a French-negotiated
ceasefire that would lead to the withdrawal of Russian forces. George Bush has ordered
humanitarian supplies to be delivered to Tbilisi on US military aircraft, saying that
the US expected Russia to allow humanitarian supplies into Georgia and to ensure that
all lines of communication and transport remain open.
The Independent of Aug 21, in a piece signed by Fergus Black, informed its readers
that Ireland’s Rapid Response Corps was on standby to join an EU ‘humanitarian mission’
to deal with the crisis in Georgia. The corps, run by the Irish Aid division of the
Department of Foreign Affairs, was set up last year to deploy at short notice to
humanitarian emergencies anywhere in the world. Micheal Martin has said that it will
be providing humanitarian assistance to ease the crisis in Georgia. We should not be
so naïve as to think that this aid is value-free – it will be under the umbrella of
the US Military and NATO.
As succinctly put by our comrades of the Galway Alliance Against the War (GAAW)
yesterday, “we believe the Irish people should not ignore this conflict in the
Caucasus……it could have implications for Ireland if the Lisbon Treaty is ever
forced upon us. Under the Lisbon Treaty, all EU countries, including Ireland,
would be obliged to come to the aid of other EU states that are attacked. Georgia
has already applied for EU and NATO membership, so this is a predicament we could
face in the future if the Lisbon Treaty becomes a reality”.
CONCLUSION
* The IAWM strenuously condemns the expansion of NATO into Georgia and demands
that it stops interfering in the Caucasus region and in Eastern Europe.
* We support those citizens of Georgia who have issued a statement condemning
the Saakashvili machine. “The entire responsibility for this fratricidal war,”
the Georgian Peace Committee says, “for thousands of children, women and elderly
dead people, for the inhabitants of South Ossetia and of Georgia falls exclusively
on the current president, on the Parliament and on the government of Georgia.”
(Aug. 11)
* We demand that the aggressive NATO military alliance be dissolved.
* We demand that any humanitarian aid sent to the Caucasus should be delivered
through civilian channels, not through US military planes.
* We condemn the so called missile shield as a provocation to Russia which may
fuel a new cold war, and we urge the people of Poland and the Czech Republicto
reject this misuse of their territories as this increases the danger of world war.
* We condemn the US military use of bases in other countries – whether in Eastern
Europe or in Shannon Airport – for its own war aims.
* We demand an end to the sabre rattling between the US and Russian Governments
which is threatening the world with a new series of proxy wars.
* We call on the peoples of the world to pressurize their Governments to instigate
an immediate programme of disarmament and for resources to be re-directed into
peaceful humanitarian uses.
* We demand that oil and gas reserves be used as a resource for all to share and
benefit from, rather than as a weapon of economic war.
* We demand that the world’s leaders cooperate in dialogue to ensure a peaceful
and sustainable world for all of the world’s children, not one ravaged by useless
devastating waste and war.
* Finally, we call on the Irish Government to support these aims.
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List of Events
1. IPSC Film Screening: Memory of the Cactus (al-Haq)
The Story of Three Palestinian Villages
What: IPSC Film Screening: Memory of the Cactus – A Story of Three
Palestinian Villages (plus Q&A session with John Reynolds of al-Haq)
When: 8pm, Thursday 28th August 2008
Where: New Theatre, Connolly Books, Essex St, Dublin 2
Cost: No Cover Charge
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2. Anti War & Charity Gig
Thursday 28th Auguat 21:00 Scuffy Murphies
1 Powers Court Lower-Mount Street
Dublin 2
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3. PREMIERE OF PALESTINIAN FILM FOR GALWAYin Thomas Reads on Dame St.
Start: 02/09/2008 – 20:30
The new Palestinian documentary film, “Memory of the Cactus” reveals the
true story behind “Canada Park” and it is a story of dispossesion,
destruction and continuing displacement. John Reynolds a member of the
Al Haq production team that made the film will take part in a Q&A
session after the showing of the 42 minute documentary.
Nun’s Island Studio, Nun’s Island, Galway City
Tuesday 2nd September 8.30pm.
hosted by Galway Alliance Against War with Galway’s Palestine Children’s
Appeal.
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4. Musicians Against War in Thomas Reads on Dame St.
Start: 05/09/2008 – 20:00
ORTAL and others playing at fundraiser for ‘images of resistance inside
and outside iraq’ exhibition which is travelling to USA… see
myspace.com/libertypix for more details!