A RETIRED US Army colonel apologised for her country’s illegal wars as a week-long peace camp outside RAF Lakenheath drew to a close today.

The camp, which maintained a 24-7 vigil outside the base from April 1, is believed to station US nuclear weapons and activists witnessed US warplanes taking off from it — likely to engage in the illegal war on Iran.

Colonel Ann Wright said that she was among the majority of US citizens who apologised for their President Donald Trump and Israel’s war against Iran.

In a message of support read out at the closing ceremony of the Lakenheath Peace Alliance Encampment against the Iran war, she said: “From the death and destruction of the peoples in Gaza, West Bank, Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Venezuela and Cuba and to citizens in virtually every country in the world, we again apologise that the US/Trump horrible policies are making our planet a much more difficult place to live.

“To you who are challenging the UK complicity in the US/Trump wars, thank you for standing up to your government.

“We in the US are in the streets every day, in the US Congress every day, in front of the White House every day, in front of the Pentagon every day, attempting to convince the Trump administration to stop its mean, evil and dangerous attacks on virtually every aspect of life in the United States.”

Hundreds of people protested at the main gates of US Airforce airbase against its role in “aggressive wars, Israel’s genocide in Gaza, the return of nuclear weapons to Suffolk” and exposed the British government’s complicity.

The former diplomat, who resigned as colonel in 2003 in opposition to the US war on Iraq, vowed to continue challenging the “war policies of the ‘peace president’ and the terrible war on immigrants.”

“Many in the US are going to jail for their righteous commitment to truth and justice,” she added.

“With all this, we are not doing enough to stop the Trump administration.

“But we will not stop, and we urge you in the UK to not stop either…and we know you will not!”

Lesley Grahame, from Norwich, who took part in the round-the-clock vigil for the entire week, said: “We still have some protest rights so let’s use them before we lose them. We need to stand up and be counted.”

The closing ceremony included a parade of banners that had been tied to the fence of the airbase. 

Nine people were arrested at the camp over the weekend.

On Sunday, five men and two women were taken in for questioning on suspicion of supporting a proscribed organisation. 

In a statement, Lakenheath Alliance For Peace said the arrests concerned support for Palestine Action and happened almost immediately after retired colonel Chris Romberg had made a speech to protesters.

The High Court ruled the proscription of Palestine Action was unlawful in February but left the ban in place pending the outcome of the appeal by the Home Office.

The other two arrests were of activists who refused to move during a lie-down protest blocking road access to the base on Saturday.

Michelle Macdonagh, 38, from Stroud, Gloucestershire, has been charged with wilful obstruction of a highway and obstructing a police officer after being arrested at the camp on Saturday, alongside Yvan Cormier-Scott, 36, of Southsea, Hampshire. He has been charged with wilful obstruction of a highway.

They have both been bailed to appear before Ipswich Magistrates Court, on April 27 and on May 22 respectively.

Yesterday Education Secretary Bridget Philllipson insisted Britain will not engage in offensive operations against Iran following Donald Trump’s threat to commit war crimes by bombing the country’s civilian infrastructure.

In an expletive-laden social media post on Sunday, the US president said American forces would attack Iranian power plants and bridges from today if Tehran did not reopen the vital shipping route through the Strait of Hormuz.

Ms Phillipson said: “It is not language or an approach that this government would be taking.

“Our approach as a UK government, the approach that the Prime Minister Keir Starmer has set out, is that we are not getting involved in offensive action, we won’t be getting involved in offensive action.”

The government has limited Britain’s involvement in the Iran conflict to so-called defensive action, with RAF jets flying sorties to protect Gulf allies against drone attacks.It also allows the US to use British bases for “defensive” actions, though has not explained how it assesses or approves those actions. The US air war has involved multiple attacks on civilians, including a strike on a girls’ primary school on the first day of the war that killed 175.

The Committee for the Defence of the Iranian People’s Rights said: “Having reduced Gaza and the Palestinian people to a state of ruin and desolation, the Israeli/US axis of destruction has turned its aggressive ambitions towards Iran and Donald Trump has threatened to bomb the country into the Stone Age.

“The Iranian people, having suffered decades of repression by the theocratic regime, now stand on the eve of mass destruction of their country as the US and Israel extend their non-stop bombardment to educational and historic sites. Moreover, they are committing war crimes by destroying the industrial infrastructure which supports the daily life of civilians.”