British protests greet an unpopular war

In Edinburgh this weekend, NATO delegates attending a meeting in the city were reported among some one thousand who rallied against NATO's war in Afghanistan:

Among those addressing the demonstration was Joan Humphreys, whose grandson, a British soldier, was killed in Afghanistan in August.

"I would like the troops to come home walking -- not on stretchers or in body bags," she said.

John Cannell, of the Stop the War Coalition, which helped to organise the march, added: "The only solution has to be a political one, but we need the troops out now to make the space for that political solution." ... (link)

The Press Association notes that "The protest even involved some delegates from the assembly itself, including Dutch senator Tiny Kox."

The protest taps into growing anti-war sentiment in Britain, as revealed in a poll commissioned by The Independent:

In a ComRes poll for the Independent on Sunday this weekend, an overwhelming proportion – 71 per cent – supported this newspaper's call for a phased withdrawal of British forces from Afghanistan within a year or so, while just 22 per cent disagreed... (link)