In Edinburgh this weekend, NATO delegates attending a meeting in the city were reported among some one thousand who rallied against NATO’s war in Afghanistan:

Among those addressing the demonstration was Joan Humphreys, whose grandson, a British soldier, was killed in Afghanistan in August.

“I would like the troops to come home walking — not on stretchers or in body bags,” she said.

John Cannell, of the Stop the War Coalition, which helped to organise the march, added: “The only solution has to be a political one, but we need the troops out now to make the space for that political solution.” … (link)

The Press Association notes that “The protest even involved some delegates from the assembly itself, including Dutch senator Tiny Kox.”

The protest taps into growing anti-war sentiment in Britain, as revealed in a poll commissioned by The Independent:

In a ComRes poll for the Independent on Sunday this weekend, an overwhelming proportion – 71 per cent – supported this newspaper’s call for a phased withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan within a year or so, while just 22 per cent disagreed… (link)

Dave Markland

Dave Markland

Dave Markland lives in Vancouver where he organizes with Stopwar.ca and regularly blogs for rabble.ca.