Smash EDO Press Release - Campaigners Say "Shut ITT!"

On Wednesday 15th October campaigners are holding a demonstration from
Sussex University calling for the closure of the weapons manufacturer EDO
MBM/ITT. This is the third march this year against the company which makes
components used by US/UK forces in Iraq and the Israeli Defense Force in
Palestine.

The 'Carnival Against the Arms Trade', held in June, saw confrontation
between police and protesters after police attempted to confine the
demonstration to a metal pen instead of allowing it to march to the
factory. On that occasion over 600 people turned out on a Wednesday
afternoon to call for the closure of the factory, many of whom had
travelled from across the country to join the campaign.

The 'Shut ITT' demonstration aims to highlight the sordid history of ITT
Corporation, the company who took over EDO MBM in December 2007. ITT
collaborated with the Nazi regime, and were working on arms related
contracts with the Luftwaffe throughout the Second World War. They also
worked in Franco's Spain and with Pinochet's regime in Chile.

"ITT behaved disgracefully during the Nazi genocide, continued to do so
during the following decades and are no better now" says Smash EDO press
spokesman Andrew Beckett "We are here to make sure that they can they can
no longer profiteer from the suffering of innocent civilians without
facing some real, loud resistance from the people of Brighton".

For more info, photos or interviews call 07875708873 or email
 smashedopress@riseup.net

Notes for Journalists

The Company

EDO MBM Technologies Ltd are the sole UK subsidiary of huge U.S weapons
manufacturer EDO Corp.From their base in Moulescoombe Brighton, EDO MBM
manufacture vital parts for the Hellfire and Paveway weapons
systems,laserguided missilesused extensively in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine
and Somalia. EDO Corp were recently acquired by ITT in a multi-billion
pound deal. ITT's links to fascism go back to the 1930s. The founder
Sosthenes Behn was the first foreign businessman received by Hitler after
his seizure of power.

The Campaign

There has been active campaign against the presence o f EDO MBM in
Brighton since the outbreak of the Iraq war.Campaigners include students,
Quakers ,Palestine solidarity activists, anti-capitalists and academics.
Despite an injunction under the protection of harassment act (which
failed) and over forty arrests the campaign is still going strong.Their
avowed aim is to expose EDO MBM and their complicity in war crimes and to
remove them from Brighton. They hold regular weekly demos outside the
Moulescoombe factory on Wednesday's between 4 and 6.

THE FILM

On the Verge is an independent film about the SMASH EDO Campaign “In 2004
a group of Brighton peace campaigners began to bang pot and pans outside
their local arms manufacturers EDO MBM in disgust of their part in the
Iraq war. This has grown into the Smash EDO campaign, which has cost the
company millions, been the subject of large scale police operations and
has tested the right to protest in the UK.Using activist, police and CCTV
footage plus interviews with those involved in the campaign, 'On The
Verge' tells the story of one of the most persistent and imaginative
campaigns to emerge out of the UK's anti-war movement and direct action
scene.”