Campaign fr the Accountability of American Bases
Menwith Hill: It's not a threat - it's a reality!
Nothing was going to stop the reggae man at "Drum Them Out!" presiding over his sound system. He knocked out breaking vibes from his white "Revolution" van, dropping the odd gratuitous voiceover: "I have the skills to pay the bills!"
There must have been a quid's worth of coppers but reggae man - really Steve Morris, a Barnsley teacher - found ways to get his money's worth of comments in, bemusing the odd copper - whose basic instincts were probably to turn him over for drugs!
CAAB - the Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases - had organized this demo at Menwith Hill, a huge spybase for America. In fact it has been spying for American since 1950 odd, and growing each year so that now it can probably listen to every communication in the northern half of the planet. This makes it the biggest electronic monitoring station in the world, sending its crop at light speed across the pond to the NSA.
This was part of Keep Space for Peace week, especially after July's decision to make Menwith part of American Missile defence. Des Browne, Secretary of State for Defence, announced this just before Parliament went on holiday and when the news was full of floods. Just an announcement. No debate. No discussion. No accountability. And no difference between Brown and Blair's commitment to American wars.
CAAB has been campaigning specifically on Missile Defense since 2000 - and were the first campaign to find out about Menwith's relation to MD in 1997... CAAB has worked away ever since... so why not join us! www.caab.org.uk
Jean Lambert (Green, MEP) led the speakers. Jon Trickett, one of Labour's MP's who protested the Missile Defense decision in a letter to the Guardian, could not make it but sent a letter. Hilary Wainwright (editor of Red Pepper) spoke well and sold me a magazine. Diana Wallis (LD,MEP) sent a letter via her husband. Other messages were read out from Dr. Martin Schweiger (Public health doctor and regular Tuesday evening attender), Fabian Hamilton, MP (Labour, Leeds East), Prof. Norman Dombey (Sussex University).
All were dead against this move and ripped into it as:
- a system that doesn't work,
- a project costing hundreds of billions that could be used constructively across the globe,
- a very worrying escalation of arms,
- something to enrich only the arms and high-tech companies involved,
- as patently nothing to do with the claimed threat of Iran's missiles and,
- much more clearly American aggression towards other powers like Russia, China, and maybe India.
I felt I had to make the point that the progress of Missile Defense, is a new Arms Race, and the Menwith announcement yet another symbol of a second Cold War. A few days after it, UK fighter jets had to scramble to intercept a Russian heavy bomber headed for UK airspace. Eventually the Russian bomber turned back but this, of course, was no accident. The UK had just said "yes" to Missile Defence. The Russians responded with their own act of (cold) war.
The demo compares with the anti-Trident one by the Clyde on October 1st. There were up to 600 at Faslane, and maybe 100 at Menwith. There were 177 arrests at Faslane marking the end of Faslane365. There were no arrests at Menwith (though there were two at July 4th's "Independence From America" demo). Both were heavily policed. But one important difference that maybe people miss is that Faslane is Britain's nuclear deterrent: however it's not used, though the threat is there. Menwith Hill is not a threat - it's a reality.
Every day millions of bits of information are given to America to help it fight its wars. Our 100 protestors were led by the Manchester Samba Drums for about half a mile. We were trying to walk round the base to point out and give information as we went (as we have done for years until this 4th July). There North Yorkshire Police blocked the road and suddenly imposed a section 12 notice. Tireless CAAB campaigner Lindis Percy managed to negotiate another 100 yards of marching space, but the police forbade us to go any further under threat of arrest if we tried to make it to the A59 or if we were to sit down! The police argued barefaced that this was for our safety but really it was a crackdown on legitimate protest, and to make their job easier.
This interference with the legitimate right to demonstrate will be pursued with civil rights organization Liberty.
Chat around the base covered more ground than the marching! Like the killing of De Menezes, now in court in London. No-one could understand how it was that man lost his life. But everyone knew about the police lies, item by item.
There are 12 important American bases around Britain. They are not under British control. It's not American soil - as the land is owned by the Secretary of Defence - but it may as well be. For Parliament has no say over the operations of this base. The halfway house is the Ministry of Defence Police Agency (MDPA) who police the security of the bases but who are no challenge to this unaccountable American dominance of British soil. Also they are paid for and under the operational control of the US authorities... so 'he who pays the piper calls the tune.'
Menwith helps kill thousands. Hundreds of thousands. Maybe a million in Iraq by now (1). Menwith needs thousands there to protest its existence, its unaccountability, an accomplice to murder. Menwith is not the threat of war, it is a part of the reality of war, war we see all to clearly in Afghanistan and Iraq. It is Menwith that "has the skills to make the kills."
Our thanks go to all who came, the speakers, Steve Morris, refreshments from Rhubarb Tartlets, the Manchester Samba Band, and to Honey Drum, who at the end of the day, welcomed the whole march back to the starting point. But we don't want to stay at the starting point.
We want major change. And for that we need numbers. And YOU! So join in!
- Write to your MP!
- Come to the Tuesday Protest at the Gates: 6-8pm! (Now in its 7th year !!)
- Support the July 4 demo: "Independence FROM America" day!
And let's "Drum Them Out" once and for all! Martin Deane, Green Party, Stop the War For CAAB
(1) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNWOj_dFSR4
CAAB - www.caab.org.uk Yorkshire CND - http://www.yorkshirecnd.org.uk/ Red Pepper - www.redpepper.org.uk
John Lynes on Hebron, 24th Oct, 7.30, Friends Meeting HOuse, HUll
Webster Tarpley, Leeds, 8th Nov.
Bombing Iran? Cenotaph, Hull 5.00pm
Hull Stop the War WEDS. 8pm, Quakers, Bean St, Anlaby Rd.