From: Treena Lenthall <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Date: Friday, 18 December 1998 02:39 Subject: DARWIN VIGIL THIRTY GATHER IN SILENT SOLIDARITY WITH IRAQI CHILDREN UNDER BOMBARDMENT - DARWIN 18/12/98 A silent vigil in solidarity with the children of Iraq was held at midday in the mainstreet of Darwin (the only Australian city to experience aerial bombardment in WW2) on Friday Dec. 18th. The vigil began with a call for an immediate end to British and U.S. bombardment of Iraq. A shrine was constructed with flowers, a photo of an Iraqi child, and one of the Pine Gap CIA Spy Base. The group was reminded that the isolated Northern Territory plays hosts to many U.S. Navy ships returning through the Timor Sea from Persian Gulf patrols. These U.S. warships that R & R in Darwin have been enforcing the crippling sanctions on the people of Iraq. The isolated Northern Territory also plays host to Pine Gap, 30 km south of Alice Springs. Vigil paricipants maintained silence and faced the makeshift shrine for an hour with signs on their backs that read "Stop the Bombing", "Lift the Sanctions", "1 Million Iraqi Kids Dead - World Health Organisation", "B-52 - Indiscriminate Killer", "Close Pine Gap", "Saddam - Creation of the West", "Bill - Make Love Not War". The majority of vigil participants had been part of the blockade of the Jabiluka Uranium mine earlier in the year and are presently in Darwin awaiting their court cases. They were joined by some local residents. The daily newspaper, the "Northern Territory News", had devoted the front page (usually the preserve of Croc, Snake and Crim stories) to a huge photo of Pine Gap and the following article............. "PINE GAP ON RED ALERT 18/12/98 by Dave English The NT spy base Pine Gap was on full alert as US and British aircraft launched missile attacks on Iraq. The top secret CIA-run spy base, which played a key role in Operation Desert Storm, was on stand-by for any signs of Iraqi retaliation. Spy sattelites linked to Pine Gap and Narunga in South Australia can detect missile launches in Iraq with uncanny precision and speed. Pine Gap is about 30 km south of Alice Springs. The official word from Pine Gap yesterday was a polite but definite 'no comment'. Deputy Chief of Facility Brian Ely said: "I'm sorry but it is our policy not to comment on operational issues," More than 800 people, about 350 of them Americans, normally work at the top secret facility. Pine Gap - officially called a Joint Defence Facility, is the largest satellite ground station in the world and one of the most important spy facilities outside the U.S. It has been operating in central Australia since 1970 and is the centre-piece of U.S.-Australian defence arrangements. Just six months ago Australia signed a formal agreement extending US rights over the facility for a further 10 years. Pine Gap is a soveriegn piece of America slap bang in the middle of Australia. Without CIA approval Australians have no right of entry to the base, nestled in a basin in the MacDonnell Ranges. During the Gulf War in 1991 Pine Gap was used to give early warning of Iraqi scud missile attacks against Israel and other middle east countries. The quick detection allowed Allied aircraft and special forces units such as the British Special Air Services to destroy the feared missile launchers. But some analysts claim Pine Gap not only detects the launch, but preparations for launch, including communications at the launch site. The key to Pine Gap's operations is a series of geostatic (fixed location) satellites orbiting the earth about 36 000 km out in space. This way the US can get continuous information coverage of any area of interest or "hot spot". Geostatic satellites played a vital role in yesterday's pre-dawn missile attacks on Iraq. British and US aircraft used the satellites to guide long-distance "cruise" missiles and "smart bombs" on to targets in and around Baghdad. Des Ball, from the Australian National University's centre of strategic studies said yesterday it would be wrong to assume that the US has total control over Pine Gap and Nurunga. Professor Ball said: "These days, you can generally say Australia controls the priorities at Nurriungar. Each day there is a conference where priorities are set and while Australia might be interested in what's happening in Baghdad, they would be equally as interested in what was going on in Indonesia." Some of the strike aircraft in the first three attacks were launched from the USS Independence." The N.T. News is part of the Rupert Murdoch chain of newspapers. Jabiluka Ploughshares www.freespeech.org/ploughshares PO Box 3818 Darwin NT 0801 Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List http://www.alexia.net.au/~www/mhutton/
