UK refusnik : NATO withdrawal key to ending Afghan war

The withdrawal of all foreign troops is the first vital stage towards ending the 10-year war in Afghanistan, according to the first British soldier to be prosecuted for refusing to return to the country. “Even the idea of improving a country by bombing it for 10 years is ridiculous and has been revealed so,” said Joe Glenton, who was sentenced by a court martial last year to 9 months in imprisonment for refusing to serve a second term in Afghanistan. “You can't have peace when you have got 120,000 foreign troops in, of all places Afghanistan, which has always resisted occupation. So the key, the critical thing, is to pull all the troops out.” he said. “All the groups in that area has set the one condition - end the occupation and move towards peace but that has been ignored by the governments, who are prosecuting these wars,” he told IRNA. Glenton, who was a Lance Corporal, joined the anti-war movement after refusing to go back to Afghanistan and on Saturday he led a mass protest in London's Trafalgar, Square, to mark the 10th anniversary of the war, organised by Stop the War Coalition. In his interview with IRNA, he said he had “absolutely” no regrets about being prosecuted for his stance against the war, which has been followed by other serving British soldiers. “Others have refused since, so there is something of a trend developing, but I am absolutely happy with it. It was the right thing to do, I thought it at the time. I still think it now,” Glenton said. “It is reflected in the people who are veterans of Afghanistan and Iraq who are willing to put their name on this letter.” he said, referring to some 25 service personnel who signed a joint petition he was delivering to Prime Minister David Cameron. The letter, he said, included some Americans but mostly British, Navy, Royal Marines and many in the army, who “oppose the war and want troops home.” The former soldier argued that the war was illegal under international law and has said he felt “ashamed” of the British government putting the military in harm's way for an unjust cause. He added he was convinced that protests and petitions would eventually be successful in forcing the government to withdraw Britain's 10,000 troops and end the war. “If you look back at the anti-war movement throughput history - and Vietnam is the classical example, the anti-war movement was pivotal to ending the war, absolutely pivotal,” Glenton said. With the support of the public and with people in the military turning against the war in Afghanistan, he said the campaign was “moving in the right direction.”