The Army has opened its first ever 'show room' in the Dalston shopping centre on Kingsland High Street next to Ridley Road.
This is an outrage. The Army's press release makes a grotesque parallel between fighting your way through a busy shopping centre and ruthless arm-to-arm combat. It also promises visitors that they can test drive virtual tanks and shoot virtual guns and that a rewarding career path can be made available to everybody.
This attempt to sanitise the reality of war is obscene. In Iraq hundreds of thousands of civilians have lost their lives and nearly two hundred British soldiers have been killed. And the killing of civilians and loss of soldiers' lives continues on an almost daily basis in Afghanistan - all to protect a deeply corrupt and unpopular administration. Many soldiers return home maimed both physically and mentally. No wonder most people in this country want the troops brought back.
Opening the first 'show room' in Hackney is no accident. The Army is targeting one of the poorest boroughs in London, where unemployment (particularly among youth) is high and is getting worse because of the economic crisis. Hackney has 37 claimants for every new job. The Army clearly hopes that young people will buy a dream as a way out of the despair of joblessness. The government should not be spending money on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (close to £10 billion so far), but investing in real jobs and careers.
Hackney Stop the War is calling a protest for 1.30pm this Saturday 21March at the Dalston Shopping Centre, Kingsland High Street (opposite
station). Please come along and bring friends and workmates.
Let the Army know that this show room is an insult and a disgrace. We want it shut down.
Gareth Jenkins, Sec. Hackney Stop The War
This is an outrage. The Army's press release makes a grotesque parallel between fighting your way through a busy shopping centre and ruthless arm-to-arm combat. It also promises visitors that they can test drive virtual tanks and shoot virtual guns and that a rewarding career path can be made available to everybody.
This attempt to sanitise the reality of war is obscene. In Iraq hundreds of thousands of civilians have lost their lives and nearly two hundred British soldiers have been killed. And the killing of civilians and loss of soldiers' lives continues on an almost daily basis in Afghanistan - all to protect a deeply corrupt and unpopular administration. Many soldiers return home maimed both physically and mentally. No wonder most people in this country want the troops brought back.
Opening the first 'show room' in Hackney is no accident. The Army is targeting one of the poorest boroughs in London, where unemployment (particularly among youth) is high and is getting worse because of the economic crisis. Hackney has 37 claimants for every new job. The Army clearly hopes that young people will buy a dream as a way out of the despair of joblessness. The government should not be spending money on wars in Iraq and Afghanistan (close to £10 billion so far), but investing in real jobs and careers.
Hackney Stop the War is calling a protest for 1.30pm this Saturday 21March at the Dalston Shopping Centre, Kingsland High Street (opposite
station). Please come along and bring friends and workmates.
Let the Army know that this show room is an insult and a disgrace. We want it shut down.
Gareth Jenkins, Sec. Hackney Stop The War
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