'Weapons Inspectors'
The Gloucestershire Weapons Inspectors continued their inspection program last Friday, as 500 anti-war protesters tore open the gates of the RAF Fairford base and demanded access to the 'weapons of mass destruction' stored therein.
Five Oxford students participated in the break-in and were removed by the police, while one person from the town was arrested.
The United States Air Force uses the Fairford base to store B2 stealth bombers and it is the only airfield in Europe suited to this purpose. It was a major launching-point for the 1999 Kosovo campaign.
In recent months it has been the site of repeated demonstrations by those who fear the base will be an integral part of an upcoming war in Iraq. According to one protestor, Matt Sellwood of New College, "U.S. Air Force involvement at RAF Fairford is totally secretive, unaccountable and undemocratic. The bombers which will slaughter thousands of Iraqis are in our backyard".
Turnout was smaller for the latest 'inspection' owing largely to protest-fatigue after the previous week's monster demonstration in London.
Perhaps the most damning statement regarding the war came from protester James Lazou, Wadham, who commented, "Tony Blair is pouring scorn on our democracy. We know he has weapons of mass destruction and is prepared to use them on Iraq. The only solution left open to us is regime change!".
The next Fairford protest is slated for 22 March.
20th Feb 2003