On 26 May WILPF UK published the following statement in response to the reports of war crimes committed by UK special forces in Afghanistan.
WILPF – the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom – is devastated to learn about crimes in Afghanistan committed by UK special forces. Devastated, yet not surprised. Our hearts go out to our sisters in Afghanistan in support and solidarity.
When successive UK governments send men into combat and sanction legalised aggression, hate, brutality and murder, this is the result.
When we live in a country that is addicted to war, and until it is recognised that all war is wrong, this is the result.
When wars are started and glorified, perpetuated and perpetrated by UK power-hungry politicians and military leaders, this is the result.
When our politicians bolster up colonial racism and lead us into illegal conflict that has nothing to do with national, regional or global security, they send British forces to war and into illegal occupation, and this is the result.
When we create an enemy who is “an other” and we train soldiers to hate and kill the “other”, this is the result.
Until it is recognised that international rules for combat are a contradiction in terms, this is the result.
When citizens are fed propaganda and lies about national security, about the validity of wars and the reasons why governments take us into wars, this is the result.
Since 1915, WILPF has advocated that conflict should be addressed with mediation and negotiation. British forces should never have been in Afghanistan.
The UK government needs to learn from this experience and take a new approach to national security and its place in the world.
WILPF uses feminist analysis which argues that militarisation is a counter-productive and ill-conceived response to establishing security in the world. The more society becomes militarised, the more violence and injustice are likely to grow locally and worldwide.
WILPF shares a feminist analysis that links militarism, masculinities, peace and security. Mobilising men and boys around feminist peace is one way of deconstructing and redefining masculinities.
