The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, July, 19th 2000. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request. ****************************** STAR WARS - MILITARY MADNESS The Federal Government's grovelling relationship with the US was highlighted recently by the joint media conference of the Australian Minister for Defence, John Moore, and the visiting US Secretary of Defence, William S Cohen. Clearly the Howard Government is intent on continuing Australia's ongoing role as a subservient deputy in helping the US in its planned military madness of gaining first-strike capability, which includes nuclear first strike. As such Australia is a crucial element in helping the US in its aim to impose its will on nations everywhere, an untenable and dangerous strategy that will bring the world closer to the brink of nuclear conflict. Cohen stated that he expected Australia to "play an important role in shared early warning", i.e. to use the existing bases at Pine Gap to provide the crucial information so as the US can put its "star wars" National Missile Defence (NMD) into action. Moore did not state whether Australia would participate in the NMD system, saying euphemistically that we hadn't yet been asked. Use of Australia's Pine Gap base is essential for the operation of the NMD system. Neither Moore nor Cohen denied that the new dome at the Pine Gap spy satellite base was intended to be used as part of NMD. Significantly, neither of them ruled out the possibility of the US Air Force base on Okinawa moving to Australia, and Cohen stated that the US intends to maintain its current force of some 100,000 personnel "throughout the Asia-Pacific region". The press conference also revealed that the US not only expects Australia to accept the role of US deputy, but to also pay lavishly for the privilege! Cohen declared that he expected Australia to increase its future level of defence spending. "There will have to be additional investment if Australia hopes to maintain a modern interoperable force with the US and other allies", he said. "This is a requirement of all our allies." He also spelled out Australia's role for the US in the region, saying the Australia/US alliance is "the anchor to our policy in the Pacific region" to "maintain peace and stability, to promote free trade and economic growth" and to "advance democracy, human rights and the rule of law". It is also possible that the Howard Government is actually considering making Australia a fully-fledged nuclear power. This possibility resurfaced after the recent decision to upgrade Sydney's Lucas Heights nuclear reactor with a new and very much bigger reactor, despite opposition from Sydney residents. The new facility, which was ordered in effect as a "fait accompli" by the Federal Government, will be far more versatile and powerful than the present facility, which is effectively limited to the production of industrial and medical radioisotopes. Internationally, the proposal for the development of NMD has been vigorously opposed by a wide range of individuals and organisations. Both China and Russia have strongly denounced the proposal, and even the US's traditional allies such as Canada and Germany have expressed deep misgivings about the proposal. Even former Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser -- a long time supporter of US hegemony -- is alarmed at these developments, last week warning that the new system would benefit the US but would seriously endanger Australia. He stated bluntly that the new system was intended to give an advantage to the US over China, and that the problem did not lie with the so-called "states of concern" such as Iran and North Korea. Fraser described the US reference to the missile capability of these states as simply an excuse to justify development of the NMD program. "Any government that agreed to participate in giving an anti- ballistic missile shield to the United States alone ... would be jeopardising Australia's own security."
