Fairford

A number of activists were arrested during 2003 whilst attempting to sabotage the war machine at USAF Fairford to prevent the greater crime of a military attack on Iraq. It seems that before their cases can be judged, the judges must first decide whether the war on Iraq was legal. Watch this microsite from Fairford Peace Watch for latest details, or check Bristol Indymedia - http://bristol.indymedia.org/ - for the latest edition of Bristol Stop the War News. See also the "B50-two"'s web site at http://www.b52two.org.uk/

"Oxford peace activists Toby Olditch and Philip Pritchard entered RAF Fairford and attempted to disarm USAF B-52 bombers early on 18th March 2003. Their decision to take this peaceful direct action was a response to absolute frustration; that all previous international pressure and efforts to prevent the prosecution of an illegal and unjustified war had come to nothing." Plus daily updates on the progress of the court hearings.

Campaign for the Accountability of American Bases's page with a timeline of activity at Fairford over the course of the Iraq war and afterwards, some news links and reports, plus some extracts from the US military media (propaganda) painting a very different picture of the situation at Fairford.

"On 22 March 2003, the police used surprisingly extreme tactics to prevent more than 120 activists from reaching a legally sanctioned anti-war demonstration in Fairford, (Gloucestershire, UK). The demonstration outside a US Airforce Base in Fairford was well attended with estimates of up to 5,000 activists attending. Among the scheduled speakers on the day were writer George Monbiot and Caroline Lucas (MEP). The people who police prevented from attending were a diverse group with a broad range of affiliations. The main thing that they had in common was the desire to travel from London by coach and the intention of joining the legal protest in Fairford. Two of the four main scheduled speakers for the Fairford demonstration were travelling on these coaches from London.

After the coaches had travelled two and a half hours from London, the coaches were stopped by police just miles from the demonstration. Using section 60 powers (of the Public Order and Criminal Justice Act 1994) police slowly searched the coaches for weapons for one and a half hours.

The passengers cooperated with this search, and they were invited to reboard the coaches when the search concluded. NO ARRESTS WERE MADE FOR ANY BEHAVIOR OR ITEMS FOUND. Passengers now believed they were going to proceed to the demonstration at Fairford. After all the passengers boarded, the coaches were forced all the way back to London under a continuous 9-12 vehicle police escort."

"On March 2nd, the day before the B52s arrived, 3 peace activists set up a round-the-clock watch at Gate 10, approx 20 yards from the centre of the two mile runway.Since then, the whole area surrounding the base has been heavily monitored by dedicated watchers from the peace movement. This site to help identify and diseminate information about aircraft, bombs and activity in general at and around USAF Fairford and its feeder bases and to provide Peacewatchers and the wider peace movement with resources and information about what's happening in the area."

The GWI have visited USAF Fairford many times in the role of civillian weapons inspectors, asking to be admitted to the base in order to inspect it for the presence of weapons of mass distruction (B52 bombers, cluster bombs, depleted uranium, etc). To date, they have not yet been given access. Indeed, the public order act has been used to prevent demonstrators from getting even close to the base.

A blog by Margaret Jones, one of the "Fairford Five", who is on trial for disabling some of the support vehicles used for arming and fuelling the bombers which were due to be used to bomb Iraq in March 2003.

"A B-52H based at RAF Fairford being loaded with AGM-86C CALCMs."

Andy Newman objects to the proposed closure of a footpath linking the air base at Fairford with the village