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<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><SPAN class=555413613-30042003>Sent to the
MSPWatch list - for further details visit the site at <A
href="http://staff.stir.ac.uk/m.r.priestley/MSPWatch/Index.htm">http://staff.stir.ac.uk/m.r.priestley/MSPWatch/Index.htm</A></SPAN></FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>As the election looms, I would
like to take the opportunity to thank all the subscribers to MSPWatch for their
support with the website. In particular I wish to thank those who have given
their time freely to help us extend the site, especially Swithun and Veronika. I
cannot say whether this project has made any difference to the elections - the
number of hits has been relatively small (about 2300 in the month or
so since the site was established), but who is to say that the message
contained within the site has not been more widely disseminated.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Depressingly, the 'success'
in the war seems to have boosted support for Labour (in the opinion polls at
least). The inevitable crushing of a weakened third world country by the world's
superpower and its ally is hardly vindication of a flawed, illegal and deeply
immoral policy, but that is how our supposedly independent media has portrayed
it. Searching questions about the putative reasons for the war have been absent,
both before and since the conflict. Where are the weapons of mass destruction?
Why did we not listen to people with expertise (e.g. Scott Ritter) who have said
all along that Iraq does not, and cannot possess them? Will there be a public
inquiry to investigate and discredit those politicians who used the issue as a
casus belli. The Guardian, while falling short of calling for such an
inquiry (Leader 25th April), has drawn attention to the strong statements which
were used to <FONT color=#000000><FONT color=#0000ff>whip up pro-war
sentiments, and which are now noticeably absent from the rhetoric of senior
politicians: </FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><FONT color=#000000><FONT
color=#0000ff><EM>"I am in no doubt that the threat is serious and current,
that he [Saddam] has made progress on WMD, and that he has to be stopped,"
wrote Tony Blair last September in a foreword to the government's Iraq
dossier. Iraq's arms were a "threat to the UK national interest", affording
Saddam "the ability to inflict real damage upon the region and the stability
of the world," he warned. In case the urgent nature of the menace was still
unclear, Mr Blair added for good measure that chemical and biological arms
were held at a maximum state of readiness. "Some of these weapons are
deployable within 45 minutes of an order to use them." That line was later
used to maximum hysterical effect by the pro-war press</EM> (quotes from Tony
Blair's forward to the September 2002
dossier).</FONT> </FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>In the absence of strong
calls from the media for politicians to be held to account, it is to be wondered
whether they can be held to account at all. This is especially true, given that
the world views of those who can hold them to account (the electorate) are often
largely formed from the picture presented by that same mass media. Nevertheless
we should try. The Scottish election could be seen as a chance to send a strong
signal to bellicose politicians that their deceptions and i<SPAN
class=555413613-30042003>gn</SPAN>oring of the electorate have not gone
unnoticed. Use your votes tomorrow to send an unequivocal message this will
not be tolerated. I suggest the following actions:</FONT></DIV>
<UL dir=ltr>
<LI>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff><STRONG>Use your first vote to
vote for a candidate, irrespective of party, who is opposed to the
war</STRONG>. I would seek to make one qualification here. In some seats,
failing to vote Labour may have the effect of letting in another candidate who
is in support of military adventurism; in some cases that might even be a
Tory. Voting for a smaller party in these cases might be counter-productive.
Clearly a Labour candidate who has been ambivalent on the issue of war is
preferable to a Tory who is in outright support of military action in Iraq. We
have recently put up details of marginal seats on the website. This
information gives details of the size of the majority last time, the likely
second placed party, and the stance where known of the 2 candidates on war.
Visit <A
href="http://staff.stir.ac.uk/m.r.priestley/MSPWatch/Marginal%20seats.pdf">http://staff.stir.ac.uk/m.r.priestley/MSPWatch/Marginal%20seats.pdf</A> for
details</FONT></DIV>
<LI>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff><STRONG>Use your second vote to
vote for one of the small parties which opposes war</STRONG>. In many cases a
small shift in the regional share of the votes will result in the election of
a Green or SSP candidate, and may reduce the number of Tory seats. Greater
representation for the smaller parties will undoubtedly be good for
parliamentary democracy, as well as having the effect of increasing the
numbers of anti-war MSPs. Given that further military action is on the cards
in Bush's war on terror, it is essential that the Scottish Parliament is
better equipped in future to discourage Tony Blair's government from joining
in.</FONT></DIV>
<LI>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff><STRONG>Write to your
Westminster MP calling for an immediate public inquiry</STRONG> into the issue
of alleged weapons of mass destruction, and the possibly fraudulent use of
this issue to justify a war which contravenes international war. Contact
details are found at <A
href="http://staff.stir.ac.uk/m.r.priestley/MSPWatch/MP%7Elist.htm">http://staff.stir.ac.uk/m.r.priestley/MSPWatch/MP%7Elist.htm</A>.
My letter is as follows; please feel free to plagiarise
it:</FONT></DIV></LI></UL>
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<BLOCKQUOTE dir=ltr style="MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
<DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial size=2>It now seems unlikely that weapons of
mass destruction will be found in Iraq, as was indicated by many
credible commentators before the war - could it be that Iraq was telling the
truth when it said that it had destroyed such weapons, and could it be that
Scott Ritter, who was so comprehensively rubbished by politicians and the
media, was actually right? </FONT>
<P><SPAN class=845552008-28042003><FONT face=Arial size=2>The existence of
this putative threat has led to:</FONT></SPAN></P>
<UL>
<LI><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN
class=845552008-28042003>billions being spent on the war, to the
potential detriment of public services in Britain</SPAN> </FONT></FONT>
<LI><FONT face=Arial><FONT size=2><SPAN class=845552008-28042003>the
invasion of a sovereign country and the dangerous setting of new
international precedents involving the use of American power</SPAN>
</FONT></FONT>
<LI><SPAN class=845552008-28042003><FONT face=Arial size=2>the sidelining
of the UN to the future detriment of international
relations</FONT></SPAN></LI></UL>
<DIV><SPAN class=845552008-28042003><FONT face=Arial size=2>I do not call
the inevitable crushing of a third world country by the worlds superpower to
be vindication of policy. Thousands of Iraqi citizens have been killed, and
thousands more have been maimed for life. While Saddam Hussein was a foul
despot, even his depredations did not match the loss of life and limb caused
by this war. Amnesty International figures place deaths attributable to him
in the order of hundreds per year if we leave out the casualties of war (and
remember that we supported Iraq during the Iranian conflict, and inflicted
tens of thousands ourselves in the first Gulf War); this contrasts sharply
with the millions of casualties claimed by Tony Blair</FONT></SPAN></DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=845552008-28042003><FONT face=Arial
size=2></FONT></SPAN> </DIV>
<DIV><SPAN class=845552008-28042003><SPAN class=845552008-28042003><FONT
face=Arial size=2>The Prime Minister has been proven to be wrong, and
his poor judgement is a major contributory factor in the consequences
outlined above. These consequences are sufficiently serious to merit a
public inquiry. I therefore call upon you to use your position in Parliament
to demand such an
inquiry.</FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV></DIV></BLOCKQUOTE></BLOCKQUOTE>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>I also attach the latest Medialens
action about Iraq. This serves as a timely reminder of the illegality and
immorality of this war.</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff></FONT> </DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>Best wishes, and thanks
again,</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><FONT face="Comic Sans MS" color=#0000ff>Mark</FONT></DIV>
<DIV><BR></DIV></DIV>
<P><FONT size=2><B><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">
--------</FONT></B></FONT></P>
<P><FONT size=2><B><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Mark Priestley</FONT></B>
<BR><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Lecturer in Education</FONT> <BR><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">Institute of Education</FONT> <BR><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">University of Stirling</FONT> <BR><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">Stirling FK9 4LA</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Tel.
+44 (0) 1786 466272</FONT> <BR><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Fax +44 (0) 1786
467633</FONT> <BR><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS">
</FONT><BR></FONT><FONT size=1><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Email<U></U></FONT><U>
<FONT face="Bookman Old Style" color=#0000ff>m.r.priestley@stir.ac.uk</FONT></U>
<BR><FONT face="Comic Sans MS">Website</FONT><U> <FONT face="Comic Sans MS"><A
href="http://www.ioe.stir.ac.uk/">http://www.ioe.stir.ac.uk/</A></FONT><FONT
face="Comic Sans MS" color=#000000><A
href="http://www.ioe.stir.ac.uk/Staff/priestley.htm"
target=_blank></A></FONT></U></FONT></P>
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