13 February 2008 - South-East Euro-MP and Brighton Westminster hopeful Caroline Lucas has called for the UK to withdraw its troops from Afghanistan.

Speaking alongside former Guantanamo Bay detainee Moazzam Begg at a meeting organised by Brighton Stop the War group tonight (February 13th), she will say the ‘war on terror’ isn’t working: over 6,500 have died and neither respect for human rights nor functioning democracy has been delivered.

“The global War on Terror has been a spectacular failure,” she will say.

“Not just the deepening chaos in Iraq, but the increasingly dangerous rhetoric and military build-up towards Iran, and the resurgence of the Taliban in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

“Even the early limited gains for women and girls in some urban areas of Afghanistan have been reversed by an explosion of rape and other violence against women.

“The war in Afghanistan killed over 6,500 people last year, and it cannot be won.  It has failed to bring peace, development, or freedom.  Instead of eradicating terrorist networks, it has spread and multiplied them.  The answer is not to increase troop numbers, as both the US and our own government is planning to do.  

"The only real chance for peace in Afghanistan is the withdrawal of foreign forces as part of a wider political settlement, including the Taliban, and neighbouring countries like Iran and Pakistan.

“And that’s why groups like Brighton’s Stop the War are such an important part of building a movement for genuine democracy and human rights.   A movement that here in Brighton has already seen the phenomenal energy of so many campaigners fighting for the release of Omar Degayes from Guantanamo.”

ENDS

For more information please contact Ben on 07973 823358 .