Military Families Against the War

Last updated • 1 min readFrom Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia

Military Families Against the War (MFAW) is an organisation of families of servicemen in the United Kingdom created to campaign for British troops to be withdrawn from Iraq.

The group's mission statement sets out their objectives as follows:

"Military Families Against the War is an organization of people directly affected by the war in Iraq. Our relatives and loved ones are members of the British Armed Services.

We are opposed to the continuing involvement of UK soldiers in a war that is based on lies.

We call on Tony Blair to withdraw our troops immediately. The soldiers in Iraq and their families at home have the most at stake in this conflict. For some of us, our loved ones have been killed in Iraq.

Our brave men and women risk injury and death while our government continues an unjust war for political ends. We say quite simply this is wrong.

Bring our Troops Home Now!"

A number of member families have recently launched an application for a judicial review under the Human Rights Act 1998, which if successful will open the way for a fully independent public enquiry into the Iraq war and would see senior ministers including Tony Blair called to face cross-examination.

See also

Related Research Articles

Iraq disarmament crisis

The Iraq disarmament crisis was claimed as one of primary issues that led to the multinational invasion of Iraq on 20 March 2003. Since the 1980s, Iraq was widely assumed to have been producing and extensively running the programs of biological, chemical and nuclear weapons. During the heights of Iran–Iraq War, Iraq had used its offensive chemical program against Iran and Kurdish civilians, also in the 1980s. With the French and Soviet assistance given to Iraqi nuclear program, its primary facility was secretly destroyed by Israel in 1981.

United Service Organizations Nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides entertainment and other services to members of the US Armed Forces and their families

The United Service Organizations Inc. (USO) is a nonprofit-charitable corporation that provides live entertainment, such as comedians, actors and musicians, social facilities, and other programs to members of the United States Armed Forces and their families. Since 1941, it has worked in partnership with the Department of War, and later with the Department of Defense (DoD), relying heavily on private contributions and on funds, goods, and services from various corporate and individual donors. Although it is congressionally-chartered, it is not a government agency.

The Royal British Legion organization

The Royal British Legion (RBL), sometimes called The British Legion or The Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants.

Withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq Wikimedia list article

The withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Iraq began in December 2007 with the end of the Iraq War troop surge of 2007 and was completed by December 2011, bringing an end to the Iraq War. The number of U.S. military forces in Iraq peaked at 170,300 in November 2007.

The following lists events in the year 2003 in Iraq.

Events in the year 2005 in Iraq.

Reginald Thomas Keys is the father of a British serviceman killed in the Iraq War. He stood in the 2005 General Election as an anti-war independent candidate for MP of Sedgefield, a constituency held by the then Prime Minister, Tony Blair.

Fernando Suarez del Solar is a Mexican peace activist, living in Escondido, California.

Veterans for Peace

Veterans for Peace is an organization founded in 1985. It was initially made up of US military veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War, and other conflicts, as well as peacetime veterans and non-veterans but has since spread overseas and has a very active offshoot in the United Kingdom. The group works to promote alternatives to war. The organization has opposed the military policies of the United States, NATO and Israel, and has opposed military actions and threats to Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan, Iran, Libya and Syria.

Military Families Speak Out

Military Families Speak Out (MFSO) is an American anti-Iraq war group. It was founded by two military families in November 2002 to oppose the planned invasion of Iraq.

Protests against the war in Afghanistan (2001–2014)

The war in Afghanistan prompted large protests around the world, with the first large-scale demonstrations beginning in the days leading up to the war's official launch on October 7, 2001.

Iraq Veterans Against the War

Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) is an advocacy group of formerly active-duty United States military personnel, Iraq War veterans, Afghanistan War veterans, and other veterans who have served since the September 11, 2001 attacks who were opposed to the U.S. military invasion and occupation in Iraq from 2003–2011. The organization advocated immediate withdrawal of all Coalition forces in Iraq, and reparations paid to the Iraqi people. It also provides support services for returning veterans to include health care and mental health.

Iraq War War which started on 20 March 2003, based in Iraq

The Iraq War was a protracted armed conflict that began in 2003 with the invasion of Iraq by a United States-led coalition that overthrew the government of Saddam Hussein. The conflict continued for much of the next decade as an insurgency emerged to oppose the occupying forces and the post-invasion Iraqi government. An estimated 151,000 to 600,000 or more Iraqis were killed in the first three to four years of conflict. In 2009, official US troops were withdrawn, but American soldiers continued to remain on the ground fighting in Iraq, hired by defence contractors and private military companies. The U.S. became re-involved in 2014 at the head of a new coalition; the insurgency and many dimensions of the civil armed conflict continue. The invasion occurred as part of a declared war against international terrorism and its sponsors under the administration of U.S. President George W. Bush following the unrelated September 11 terrorist attacks.

British Parliamentary approval for the invasion of Iraq was given by the elected members of the British House of Commons to Tony Blair's government on the eve of the 2003 invasion of Iraq, in a series of two votes, on 18 March 2003.

Caoimhe Butterly Irish activist

Caoimhe Butterly is an Irish peace activist who has worked with people with AIDS in Zimbabwe, the homeless in New York, and with Zapatistas in Mexico as well as more recently in the Middle East and Haiti. In 2002, during an Israeli Defence Forces attack in Jenin, she was shot by an Israeli soldier. She spent 16 days inside the compound where Yasser Arafat was besieged in Ramallah. She was described by Time magazine as one of their Europeans of the Year in 2003. Butterly is a pacifist and a member of the International Solidarity Movement (ISM), an organisation that seeks non-violent alternatives to armed intifada by mobilising international civil society.

Iraq Inquiry British public inquiry into the Iraq war

The Iraq Inquiry was a British public inquiry into the nation's role in the Iraq War. The inquiry was announced in 2009 by Prime Minister Gordon Brown and published in 2016 with a public statement by Chilcot.

<i>A Journey</i> book by Tony Blair

A Journey is a memoir by Tony Blair of his tenure as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. Published in the UK on 1 September 2010, it covers events from when he became leader of the Labour Party in 1994 and transformed it into "New Labour", holding power for a party record three successive terms, to his resignation and replacement as Prime Minister by his Chancellor of the Exchequer, Gordon Brown. Blair donated his £4.6 million advance, and all subsequent royalties, to the British Armed Forces charity The Royal British Legion. It became the fastest-selling autobiography of all time at the bookstore chain Waterstones. Promotional events were marked by anti-war protests.

Events in the year 2011 in Iraq.