IN THIS NEWSLETTER:

1) £4.6 MILLION CAN’T WASH TONY BLAIR’S HANDS CLEAN
2) MPs INUNDATED BY AFGHANISTAN E-LOBBY
3) BUILD NATIONAL AFGHANISTAN: TIME TO GO DEMONSTRATION
4) ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO SUPPORT STOP THE WAR
5) NEW LOCAL STOP THE WAR GROUPS
6) REALITY RADIO LAUNCHED

1) £4.6 MILLION CAN’T WASH TONY BLAIR’S HANDS CLEAN

Tony Blair has accumulated an astronomical fortune since he left office in 2007 — by some estimates it will soon reach £45 million (SEE bit.ly/9RxYik)

If Tony Blair thought donating the proceeds from his soon to be published memoirs to charity would absolve him of his Iraq war crimes, he’s very much mistaken.

The £4.6 million that will go to help build a rehabilitation centre for seriously injured soldiers is very welcome, but no amount of money can buy innocence or forgiveness for Blair.

Peter Brierley, whose son was killed in Iraq, welcomed the donation but added his aim is still “that one day we will see Tony Blair in court for the crimes he committed.”

Stop the War is mounting a campaign to get Waterstone’s bookshop to cancel a book-signing it is hosting for Tony Blair on Wednesday 8 September, for reasons given by writers Iain Banks, John Pilger and AL Kennedy, composer Michael Nyman, ex-soldier Ben Griffin and others who wrote in a letter to the Guardian:

“This event will be deeply offensive to most people in Britain. A large majority of the British public say Mr Blair told lies and fabricated evidence to take Britain into a war with Iraq that he knew to be illegal under international law… The consequences for the Iraqi people has been hundreds of thousands of killed, 4 million more driven from their homes and the destruction of their country.” (SEE bit.ly/aYOz3l)

In the first instance we will be encouraging as many people as possible to write to Waterstone’s asking the company to reconsider hosting Blair’s book-signing (see below). But if the event goes ahead, Stop the War will organise a protest at 12.30pm outside Waterstone’s in Piccadilly, London, to ensure that the voice of Britain’s anti-war majority is heard loud and clear as Blair signs his book.

WHAT YOU CAN DO:

* EMAIL WATERSTONE’S NOW USING OUR E-LOBBY TOOL It takes a couple of minutes using our model letter to send an instant message to Waterstone’s urging them to cancel Tony Blair’s book-signing. GOTO: bit.ly/93tbfF

* JOIN THE PROTEST AT WATERSTONE’S ON 8 SEPTEMBER If Blair’s book-signing is not being cancelled, Stop the War will organise a protest at 12.30pm outside Waterstone’s in Piccadilly, London. Please join us, if you can.

2) MPs INUNDATED BY AFGHANISTAN LOBBYING

Stop the War has organised a public meeting in Parliament on Wednesday 8 September. This is the day before MPs are due to debate Afghanistan in the House of Commons and vote on the war for the first time.

In the run up to the debate in parliament, MPs are already being inundated with emails calling on them to vote in the debate on 9 September to bring the troops home. Within the last few weeks, people using Stop the War’s online e-Lobby feature have sent emails to over one third of the total number of MPs. We need to ensure that every MP is lobbied on this issue, which is very simple to do using our instant message e-Lobby feature.

* LOBBY YOUR MP WITH AN INSTANT EMAIL MESSAGE MPs are obligated to reply to all communications to them, so if you haven’t e-lobbied your MP yet, we urge you to do it now. It takes less than two minutes to send an instant message. GOTO: bit.ly/9KdrQC

* PUBLIC MEETING: 08 SEPTEMBER 7.00PM AFGHANISTAN: TIME TO GO HOUSE OF COMMONS, LONDON, RIGHT SIDE ENTRANCE (Ask for Stop the War meeting) Speakers will include anti-war MPs and members of military families.

3) BUILD AFGHANISTAN: TIME TO GO DEMONSTRATION

The more obvious it becomes that the war in Afghanistan is pointless and being lost, the more the politicians and generals insist “progress” is being made. (SEE bit.ly/9JSN1A)

General David Petraeus, the commander of the US forces in Afghanistan, now says that, despite President Obama’s declaration that US troops would start withdrawing in July 2011, any serious reduction may well not start for years.

Whatever David Cameron’s claim that British troops will be out of Afghanistan by 2015, the British government remains slavishly subservient to US foreign policy and there can be no guarantee that this will be implemented.

In this context the national Time To Go demonstration called by Stop the War, CND and the British Muslim Initiative, will be a vital protest expressing the view of the vast majority in Britain that the troops should come home now.

Stop the War is urging all its local groups and supporters to do all they can to publicise the demonstrations by:

* Spreading the word to your friends, work colleagues, fellow students, trade union branch, faith organisation, community group etc.

* Distribute leaflets in work places, colleges, schools, churches, mosques etc ( download leaflet for printing here: tinyurl.com/355lpda)

* Put up a window poster in your home, workplace, college etc (available from Stop the War office: office@stopwar.org.uk, tel: 020 7801 2768).

Hardly a day passes without more catastrophic news from Afghanistan dominating the news media. We need to make 20 November a demonstration the politicians can’t ignore. Please watch the Stop the War website for Time To Go updates: stopwar.org.uk

4) ONE OF THE BEST WAYS TO SUPPORT STOP THE WAR

Stop the War Coalition is the largest and broadest anti-war movement in Britain. We are a grassroots movement that relies entirely on the active participation and ideas of our members and supporters in all our campaigning work.

By becoming a member of Stop the War you can directly contribute to our campaigns by helping to provide a steady financial basis for our small national office and the wide range of activities we organise.

Becoming a member can cost as little at £2 a month (we appreciate more if you can afford it!).

As a member you will receive a newsletter every three months, a weekly email update, membership card, logo badge, a current Stop the War pamphlet and an activist’s pack that includes a contact for your local group and information on how to get involved in some of the many Stop the War campaigns.

Becoming a member will give you representation to help shape and direct Stop the War’s campaigns. It will entitle you to attend our national annual general meeting, at which you will have speaking and voting rights in the debates formulating our policies and future campaigns. This year’s AGM takes place at London’s Conway Hall on 30 October.

BECOME A MEMBER OF STOP THE WAR NOW * ONLINE: bit.ly/11eQoy * BY PHONE: 020 7801 2768

5) NEW LOCAL STOP THE WAR GROUPS

Three new local Stop the War groups have been formed recently — in Guildford, Hitchin and Bournemouth. Contact details for these new groups and Stop the War groups across the country are here: bit.ly/3cPI3i

If there is no local Stop the War group in your area and you would like to be put in touch with people who may be interested in starting one, contact the national office: office@stopwar.org.uk, tel: 020 7801 2768

6) REALITY RADIO LAUNCHED

The Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament has launched its own online radio station, Reality Radio. The first programme features Stop the War’s national convenor, Lindsey German, interviwed by CND’s chair, Kate Hudson. LISTEN HERE: bit.ly/dbsPiJ

Email office@stopwar.org.uk Tel: 020 7801 2768 Web: stopwar.org.uk Twitter: twitter.com/STWuk