Op-Ed: Confronting war 10 years on — An international conference

London - On February 9 there will be an international conference in Central London to stop the war. The usual suspects will be attending.

According to a leaflet going the rounds here, details of this conference can be found on a dedicated Ten Years On website. The list of speakers includes champagne socialist Tariq Ali, the charismatic and outspoken George Galloway, and the left wing MP Jeremy Corbyn. There are though others who will almost certainly be worth listening to, like Saieb Khalil from Iraq, and Mitra Quayoom from Afghanistan, who judging by her make up and T-shirt is a likely target for assassination by the Taliban. If she ever tires of politics, a career in modelling surely awaits her. Subjects on the agenda include Islamophia - the new racism (yawn) and Drones and remote control imperialism. This sort of rhetoric is frankly ludicrous; the so-called drone war is nothing more and nothing less than a campaign of murder, and one that has ramifications for all of us. Left wing loonies aside, this is an important conference, which begs the question why will few if any politicians and others from the mainstream be attending? One person not from the mainstream who will be attending is Lindsey German of Stop the War. Another leaflet currently going the rounds is from her organisation inviting people to become a friend of the Stop the War Coalition - which of course involves sending a cheque. For a donation of £20 you can receive a copy of Graphic History Of The Stop The War Coalition, signed by Tony Benn. That may sound a lot in these times of austerity, but last November a ticket to hear Tony Blair make a speech would have cost you £714, quite a difference, and most people would rather be bored by Benn than bombed by Blair.