10 months ago, on 18 January 2009, Elijah Smith A former British Soldier was arrested in Brighton.

WIll writes: He had spent the previous night decommissioning the EDO/MBM/ITT factory in Brighton, in an attempt to stop it providing parts for weapons being used by the Israeli army to bomb civilians in Gaza. Nobody was injured or harassed during their action, which was one of property damage. He and his co-defendants did not resist arrest.

Exactly 10 months on and Elijah Smith is still on remand. Yes that's right – 10 months in prison without trial. And it looks as if he is likely to remain in prison until the trial actually starts, probably on 17 May 2010, by which time he’ll have spent 16 months on remand. Elijah is currently at Bristol prison, please write to him in solidarity: Elijah Smith VP7551, HMP Bristol, 19 Cambridge Rd, Horfield, Bristol, BS7 8PS

He will be there until late November. On 30 November/1 December he and the other Decommissioners will be at Brighton courts for a ‘case management’ session relating to their trial next May. At the same time, Elijah and another decommissioner, also known as the Raytheon 2 (previously the Raytheon 3, but 3rd defendant’s charges dropped), will have that case discussed at the same court – the prosecution are trying to have the Raytheon and EDO cases linked, and a decision is due on that then. Elijah faces a third court case, currently set for 2 August 2010, which relates to alleged threatening comments he made to the EDO/MBM CEO during a previous court hearing.

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It's been an interesting few days for The Decommissioners. In the past few days there have been brushes with the law, and the prison authorities... and now another protest is coming up...

Bristol ABC wrote last week, that "two of Bristol’s 6 EDO Decommissioners were re-arrested on Saturday at an anti-militarist protest [for breaching bail conditions]"... But the bad news soon became good:

The three were taken to Oldham court on Monday 19th, the prosecution first tried to charge the three with ‘Associating’ with each other. Realising this wasn’t actually one of there bail conditions the charge was changed to ‘communicating’ with each other. Realising there was insufficient evidence to prove the defendants had communicated with each other, the charge was changed to ‘indirect communication’. Once again realising there was no evidence to prove this, a final charge was weighed against them, this was unbelievably ‘likely to break bail conditions’ then all of a sudden the clock struck 13:18 and all charges were dropped because of a time-out. For if your arrested on breach of bail it has to go through the courts within 24 hours...

Decommissioner recorded another victory: "Yesterday two of the defendants in the decommissioning trial, were successful in their appeal of their conviction for offences relating to the 2008 'Carnival Against the Arms Trade'. Both defendants had been arrested in a mass invasion of the EDO MBM/ITT carpark."

It's not all good news though. Bristol ABC again:

Meanwhile word has come in that the remaining Bristol Decommissioner on remand, Elijah (James) Smith, was ghosted out of Lewes prison sometime last week, and its believed taken to Doncaster prison... ‘Ghosting’ of prisoners involves their sudden unannounced movement to another prison, and is an old trick by the state to stop awkward prisoners... getting settled anywhere or communicating their grievances to others.

Supporter has more: "Currently Elijah is back in Lewes prison where he’ll stay until November 5th. Write to him please at: Elijah Smith, VP 7551, HMP Lewes, 1 Brighton Rd, East Susses, BN7 1EA."

You can also provide support by attending the protest this Saturday. Meet opposite the Hippodrome, central Bristol, at 2pm. Peaceman tells us why we should be there:

There are alternatives. The withdrawal from countries and regions we have no right nor reason to be in. The end of support to corrupt, totalitarian and oppressive regimes. The end of sales of military hardware to those same regimes, along with the withdrawal of 'military experts'. Trade and locally-led development not state-sponsored terrorism. The re-tooling and retraining of western factories and workforces to produce socially useful goods and equipment not weapons of mass destruction. Come on Bristol, wake up!

[ Decommissioners' website | Story of arrest and 'ghosting' | Details of release | Successful appeal | Elijah's situation | Saturday protest call-out | More on Saturday protest | Schnews coverage | Bristol ABC ]

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Unmanned drones, a game of conflict and assassins in the sky...

Tom Dispatch noted: In 1984, Skynet, the supercomputer that rules a future Earth, sent a cyborg assassin, a "terminator," back to our time. His job was to liquidate the woman who would give birth to John Connor, the leader of the underground human resistance of Skynet's time. You with me so far? That, of course, was the plot of the first Terminator movie and for the multi-millions who saw it, the images of future machine war -- of hunter-killer drones flying above a wasted landscape -- are unforgettable. ... Meanwhile, hunter-killer drones haven't waited for Hollywood. As you sit in that movie theater in May, actual unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), pilotless surveillance and assassination drones armed with Hellfire missiles, will be patrolling our expanding global battlefields, hunting down human beings... This is no far off story: In Newport on the 22nd and 23rd, EDO are exhibiting in a Unmanned Aerial Vehicle military conference with echos of the nightmare warfare...

Plan 9 will also be playing where reality and art meet: Guy Debord is celebrated as the leader of the Situationist International and author of 'The Society of the Spectacle'. What is much less well known is that Debord devised The Game of War - a military strategy board game. For Debord, The Game of War wasn't just a game - it was a guide to how people should live their lives within Fordist society. By playing, revolutionary activists could learn how to fight and win against the oppressors of spectacular society. Come and learn how to play the Game of War at Plan 9. Using an exact hand made pewter replica of Debord’s game artist Rod Dickinson and other members of Class Wargames will lead up to 20 players in a participatory game. Along the way they will discuss situationist gaming and other military strategy games. ... Full article.

| Guy Debord’s The Game of War | Related News/Links UNMANNED AERIAL CONFERENCE NEWPORT | The EDO decomissioners certainly hit the right target | Tomgram: Filling the Skies with Assassins (Tom Dispatch.com) | Afghanistan and Pakistan – the war spreads | www.smashedo.org.uk | www.plan9.org.uk |

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Discussion on the expanding Afghanistan-Pakistan war

As the Afghanistan-Pakistan war spreads, some commentations remain sceptical about the progress being claimed. info@bristolstopwar writes: The US escalation of the war in Afghanistan promised by Barak Obama has started with a large scale attack in Helmand province. Thousands of Afghans have died in the years since the invasion of 2001 and British casualties are at their highest level for many years. Commanders openly admit that no military victory is possible. We are continually told that this is a 'good', 'humanitarian' 'winnable', war compared with the fiasco in Iraq. In reality, the war is about enforcing US power and influence in the region. The occupying armies are as unpopular in Afghanistan as they are in Iraq... Bristol Stop The War Coalition Public Meeting. 'Afghanistan and Pakistan – the war spreads' Speakers: Mohammad Asif (Chair, UK Afghan Democracy & Reform Movement)... Full article.

| Afghanistan and Pakistan – the war spreads meeting 20/7/09 | Related News/Links Support political prisoners and the EDO defendants | rethinkafghanistan.com |

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