Joan Humphries, whose grandson Kevin Elliot was killed in Afghanistan in August last year, spoke at a public meeting in Worcester on Monday night (28th June). Joan said that 100,000 Afghan civilians have died as a result of the war, 60,000 of whom were women and children, There have been 7,000 coalition forces deaths.
At the inquest into her grandson’s death Joan was told that the person who killed Kevin ought to be charged with murder. She asked the question, “How can someone who’s defending their country be accused of murder?”, and made the comparison with French Resistance fighters killing Nazis invaders.
Joan spoke of the “export of western terrorism to the second poorest country in the world” and said, “I lay the blame for the death of my grandson at the floor of the present and past US and UK governments.” She said that the war “is nothing to do with protecting British citizens…It is about capitalism and imperialism”. Joan concluded by saying that “getting the troops out is the best way to support them”.
Here is a video of Joan speaking at an anti-war rally in Trafalgar Square: