Third rooftop protest at Raytheon
bristol |
peace |
news report
Wednesday December 10, 2008 14:39
by Ed Hill - Smash Raytheon
EdwardHill1 at yahoo dot co dot uk
Anti-war protesters have again outwitted cops and security guards and occupied the rooftop of the Raytheon office block in Frenchay near Bristol. They are waving banners and shouting slogans.
This action leads up to a major demonstration planned outside the offices
3 til 6pm Thursday 11th December
Bristol Business Park is off of Coldharbour Road
Meet on the roundabout opposite UWE
Transport available from central Bristol.
Meet 2pm outside the “Red Factory” on Portland Square in St Pauls
COME AND SHOW YOUR SUPPORT FOR THE PROTESTERS
AND YOUR DISGUST FOR THE RAYTHEON DEATH DEALERS.
This is the third roof-top protest as part of a total of eight on-going weekly protests at the Raytheon offices.
A roof-top protester said “The US and Britain had no more right to invade Iraq or Afghanistan than Nazi Germany did to invade Poland or France. Raytheon played their part by producing foul, indiscriminate weapons and we won’t be quiet till they have left our city for good.”
The rooftop protest is being led by ex-soldier named Elijah Smith. Aged 43 he served with the French Foreign Legion 1986-88 and with the British Army 1990-92 rising to the rank of corporal in the Parachute regiment. He saw active service in Northern Ireland, Croatia, and Rwanda.
He says “We’re living in ridiculous times. As civilians we’re increasingly being controlled and criminalised. Yet at the same time the Government sends our troops to fight illegal wars against relatively weak third-world countries. And no one, at all, controls the global arms industry which is producing the most evil and barbaric weaponry imaginable. More and more civilians are being slaughtered in our so-called hi-tech warfare. Entire countries, such as Iraq, are laid waste with toxic chemicals and depleted uranium waste. And I know personally countless young soldiers returning from duty who are permanently poisoned by the chemicals and the psychological damage. I’ve seen too much in my time and I’m totally sickened. That’s why I’m devoting my life to stopping it.”
RAYTHEON
Raytheon are 4th largest arms company in the world with a $20 billion turnover per year. They are involved massively in the manufacture or delivery systems of WMD. They are the biggest cruise missile maker (Patriot and tomahawk). Their range of both cruise-missiles and plane-dropped bombs can be loaded with cluster bombs. Cluster bombs are indiscriminate weapons killing civilians and soldiers alike. During the 2006 War on Southern Lebanon, Raytheon were supplying the Israeli military who were using the weaponry on civilian targets and deliberately sprayed millions of bomblets throughout the country. They also manufacture DU depleted-Uranium tipped Bunker Busters bombs, such as the ones that killed hundreds of civilians in the Amiriyah shelter in Baghdad. DU has had devastating health effects on civilian population of Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as on British soldiers. Raytheon munitions were used extensively in the destruction of the city of Fallujah during the second Iraq war. Have the UK contract with MOD for UK inland security and the Olympics, plus are involved with the new military training academy being built at St Athens in South Wales. They are also researching military technology for civilian control, such as a sinister crowd-dispersal microwave beam called “The Silent Guardian” which causes intense burning effects on the recipients.
Raytheon cluster-bomb systems see http://thisworldisnotforsale.com/dawc/myReportOnCluster....html
Raytheon Bunker Busters bombs see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amiriyah_shelter
In August 2006 Anti-War protesters in Derry organized a non-violent occupation of Raytheon's plant in the Ulster Science and Technology Park and were acquitted recently. See http://www.thisworldisnotforsale.com/
Videos and info on previous demonstrations at Raytheon in Bristol
see www.RaytheonOut.wordpress.com
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Comments (11 of 11)
Jump To Comment: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11I am sat here in the office of the human rights organisation looking through lots of dusty files that document the legal process that followed a cluster bomb attack on a small town nearby. no mention of raytheon but horrific details about the injuries, how the bomb fell and spread, and how the army tried to claim it was an accident afterwards.
I just told the pepole in the office with me about the rooftop occupation and there was a nice cheer.
http://www.bristol.indymedia.org/article/689390
persistence is what counts!
huge respect to all
its time to drive the warmongers out of bristol!
as i said keep it up
Elijah may have seen war, but it appears that he knows nothing about DU or is just another one who throws in that boggey man every time just for effect. He claims that
"Entire countries, such as Iraq, are laid waste with toxic chemicals and depleted uranium waste. And I know personally countless young soldiers returning from duty who are permanently poisoned by the chemicals. I’ve seen too much in my time and I’m totally sickened. That’s why I’m devoting my life to stopping it.”
What toxic chemicals is he referring to and how have they laid waste to the entire country of Iraq? DU has not laid waste to anywhere, let alone Iraq.
What soldiers does he personally know who are permanently poisoned by the chemicals (again, what specific chemicals; where were these soldiers, what units did they serve with) - be specific Elijah instead of just carrying a protest sign that sounds good.
I expect that Elijah can not be specific because he has no specific details. Until he does, he should just speak about what he really knows to be true and stop speculating and spreading mythology. It is not even clear what Elijah wants to stop; if it is war in general, that is a pretty noble cause, but maybe he should take his protest to the streets of Islamabad.
Roger
DUStory-owner@yahoogroups.com
Good sources of information on what DU is and more importantly what it is not
www.depletedcranium.com
Roger,
I am scientifically trained and am frequently frustrated by the outlandish pseudo-scientific statements that proliferate in the media. I visited your site (briefly) and saw an article questioning the value of homeopathy, for instance, which is a target that certainly warrants plenty of criticism.
In other words, I think I'm coming from a similarly sceptical angle to you!
But on depleted uranium, I think you may simply be wrong. I have no doubt that you can throw plenty of articles at me that will question the connection between DU and various illnesses, and I have no intention of getting in to a long, and pointless discussion on this subject. I am a layman when it comes to DU, but I have read enough to think that exposure to DU may well cause very significant damage to one's health. A quick google search came up with these two links:
http://vitw.org/archives/182
http://www.yesmagazine.org/article.asp?ID=594
I know the author of the former, and she is no conspiracy theorist. And the latter describes the view of a US army colonel and scientist; not a person I would normally expect to agree with! Still, there is clearly some substantial weight behind the idea that DU causes illness.
I have a friend in Australia who is a Vietnam veteran, and who participated in the long, and ultimate successful, campaign to have Agent Orange recognised for what it is: a health catastrophe. Unfortunately that success came 30 years too late, and my friend's quality of life - like so many veterans, as well as huge numbers of Vietnamese people - has been severely and permanently damaged. (I wrote about Agent Orange here: http://nickleberry-huxtable.blogspot.com/2008/01/agent-orange.html )
The DU debate bears a striking resemblance to the Agent Orange question, although of course I have no idea how the health effects of the two substances compare. Nonetheless there is no doubt that we need prolonged, and detailed scientific investigation into the effects of DU as soon as possible. It seems to me that the UK and US governments are committed only to obfuscation on this subject, and so the debate will continue, while quite possibly, people continue to get sick.
As a friend of the rooftop protesters i can officially say no one is leading any one else all eight of the brave men whove been on the roof, in the last two months lead themselves into those actions.
Depleted uranium has caused devastaging effects in fallujah check out the film "the hidden massacre for proof. Its on the smash raytheon blog
www.raytheonout.wordpress.org.uk
"This protest movement is being led by a joint concern not an individual" Elijah Smith from the roof top
The rooftop protest is led by all our collective concern for the people of former yugoslavia, Iraq and Afghanistan whose lives, homes & livelihoodshave been devastated by these weapons manufacturers and the UK and US governments
Roger
for such a deeply scientific man you don't give much of a scientific explanation. Your tone and content spells out that you do not really have any evidence ...I assure you there is plenty of evidence out there and it's coming to light, ....there are plenty of us who are working on the case, so tell your paymaster that your empty callous words are getting nowhere
The word "led" was a mistake.
Should have said "one of the group of protesters on the rooftop is..."
Apologies to the collective spirit.
Keep up the good work..........................Ed Hill
Well done to the rooftop protesters from Derry where Derry Anti War Coalition members, the Raytheon 9, were acquitted of criminal damage in June 2008. The jury accepted that the over £300,000 worth of damage that the 9 caused in August 2006 to Raytheon's offices in Derry was not a crime as its aim was to prevent further crime happening in Lebanon. It was accepted that Raytheon was complicit in these crimes.
There's lots of info on our website and if there is any way we can help, we'd be delighted.