Monday, November 10, 2003

Anti-war campaigners in Calderdale, West Yorkshire, today created a dramatic representation of the chasm existing between a just peace and George W Bush's policy of war.

An effigy of the US President was symbolically toppled from Stoodley Pike, a famous local hill top landmark and a monument to peace.

The event was designed to express the anger and dismay felt at the forthcoming State Visit of George Bush on 19th ‚21st of November.

Stoodley Pike stands at around 400m on a prominent hill overlooking Todmorden and Hebden Bridge, in the Upper Calder Valley, West Yorkshire. The Pike is a monument 120 feet high with a viewing platform at 40 feet up. It was originally built in 1815 to celebrate the outbreak of peace at the end of the Napoleonic Wars. The fate of the monument seems somehow to have been interlinked with conflict. In 1854, when the Crimean War broke out, the monument collapsed. It was rebuilt in 1856 when peace was declared. It had to be repaired at the start of the 20th century when part of it collapsed the day before the end of the First World War.

Demonstrations will be taking place throughout the country, with a protest & vigil in the centre of Hebden Bridge on Wednesday 19th November, 5-6pm, at the main traffic lights. There will be a national demonstration in London on Thursday 20th November. Transport is being organised from Calderdale. Call Juliet on 01422 340967 for details.

A spokeswoman for Calderdale Against the War said: "We refuse to welcome the man behind an unjust war which has killed, and continues to kill civilians and soldiers of many countries.

Having presided over this violence and destruction, George Bush's administration has now allowed powerful multinationals to move in for the spoils.

Without consent from the people of Iraq, the occupying force is seeking to sell off Iraq's essential services. This privatisation means that foreign firms can make profits which they are then free to siphon out of an already impoverished country. This is in violation of international law governing the behaviour of occupying forces.

The international companies and financiers who supported the Iraqi regime now seek to recover their billions at the expense of the very population Saddam oppressed.

People in Iraq are entitled to the conditions in which they can determine their own future, and can rebuild infrastructure and services like health and education. By opening the way for profiteers, George W Bush is undermining the creation of these conditions and threatening the future of Iraq's people.

Thanks to Calderdale Against the War for sending us this report. (CAW)

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