Peace Group says 'bring them home'

Peace Group members Andrew Wastling, Jenny Turner and Pat Sanchez at the stall

Rochdale and Littleborough Peace Group called for British troops to be brought home from Afghanistan and for an end to NATO's war when they leafleted in Rochdale town centre on Saturday (13 November 2010).

They urged people to join them on the forthcoming 'Afghanistan: Time to Go' demonstration called by the Stop the War Coalition, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and the British Muslim Initiative to demand an end to NATO's occupation.

They collected signatures on a petition which notes the situation in Afghanistan, and the destabilisation of Pakistan resulting from NATO's military intervention in the region and states that only the Afghan people can generate a political solution to their country's problems

Philip Gilligan on behalf of the group said: "NATO's disastrous war costs lives and money, but achieves nothing. More British troops have already died in 2010 than in any previous year, while tens of thousands of Afghan civilians and more than two thousand NATO troops have been killed since 2001.

“While Rochdale is losing its hospital services and the Council is sacking essential staff, this war is costing the country £5billion every year. This is enough to offset the full cost of the government's cuts to Child and Housing Benefits and to still leave more than £2billion to spend on essential services.

“Almost every day we hear of the deaths of British troops. 1,499 have been wounded. We need to bring our troops home. The killing in Afghanistan must stop."