British veterans against Cameron’s war on Syria

Translated from NOS TV in the Netherlands:

British veterans return their medals in protest

Today, 19:40

Four war veterans of Veterans for Peace today returned the medals they received for their service in the British Army. The members of the veterans movement threw the medals on the street in front of 10 Downing Street, the official residence of Prime Minister Cameron.

They also refused to be bound any longer by the oath of allegiance which they had followed when they were hired. The veterans did this to protest against the bombing that the UK since last week does on ISIS targets in Syria.

The ex-soldiers hope that other British citizens will be encouraged to ask the government to oppose ISIS in a different way. …

“I could no longer allow innocent people to suffer from the decisions of our government. It is now up to the people to show the government that they also do not trust them,” said protest leader Ben Griffin. He was previously deployed to Macedonia, Northern Ireland, Afghanistan and Iraq and then resigned from the army.

Veteran Jim Radford, the youngest participant in D-Day and now an activist and musician, has serious doubts about the results of British bombs. “Bombing does not resolve any conflict. In Vietnam more bombs fell than in the entire Second World War and see what results they had there. The British government only aggravates the desperate situation in Syria.”

Also veterans who were not at the protest gave their medals to protest leader Griffin to leave them at the residence of Cameron. Eg, Iraq veteran Dave Smith and his father, who served in Northern Ireland. Smith became disabled in Iraq in 2005.

Since the announcement last week of the bombing of IS targets in Syria, over sixty new veterans have joined Veterans for Peace. Griffin says he also receives messages of support from the British Army.

The veterans will act again in the future to show their dissatisfaction with the British mission [in Syria]. Iftikhar Mersa lost his medal for his service in Northern Ireland years ago, but will request a replacement copy to leave at 10 Downing Street.

It is not the first time that medals are left at the door of the residence of Cameron. Last summer protesting members of Veterans for Peace already laid medals down there.

This video from Britain says about itself:

War Veterans Discard Medals in Rejection of Militarism and War

13 July 2015

“We are members of Veterans For Peace UK, an ex-services organisation of men and women who have served this country in every conflict since the second world war. We exist in the hope of convincing you that war is not the solution to the problems of the 21st century. We have come here today to hand back things, given to us as soldiers, that we no longer require or want.”

Syria air strikes: Why the Government should have invested war money into infrastructure, education and student support services. It is ‘infuriating’ that, on the same day the Government decided to bomb Syria, Jo Johnson announced funding for disabled students in higher education is to be cut, says the NUS international students’ officer: here.

Turkish army invades northern Iraq while US planes bomb Syrian army: here.

Developments have proceeded rapidly following the decision by the German parliament on Friday in favour of military participation in Syria. Just a few hours after the vote, the German frigate Augsburg was under way for Syria. According to a spokesman for the Mission Command in Potsdam, it has been alongside the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle since Sunday. At a Luftwaffe (air force) base near Kiel, German Tornado combat aircraft are being prepared for their deployment to Turkey: here.

Syria-Iraq: civilian deaths, British denials. The British government’s response to scrutiny of its current military actions is evasive. But mounting evidence of civilian casualties makes this untenable± here.

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