The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, May 2nd, 2001. 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. ****************************** 27,000 troops prepare for invasion and war While our TV screens and daily newspapers are flooded with stories and articles glorifying the Australian Defence Forces, John Howard has all but handed over our Foreign Affairs and Defence portfolios to George Bush Jnr. And as the propaganda war and military threats against China intensify, over 27,000 Australian and US troops are rehearsing a full-scale invasion of a "non-specified enemy" off the Queensland coast. by Jules Andrews The Australian Defence Force (ADF) and US military are using the erms "military exercises" and "wargames" to describe their activities in the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park, words that conveniently hide the true intent of what's happening. Just as "carpet bombing" and "collateral damage" were used during the Gulf and Balkan wars to hide the real truth of bombing whole cities to the ground and murdering innocent civilians, the Tandem Thrust "exercises" are really "preparations", and it is not a game. This is not "self-defence" "For Australia to be well defended in the unlikely event of hostile activity, our defence forces need to undertake realistic training", says a Tandem Thrust spokesman. But the Tandem Thrust exercise is clearly not a practice run to defend Australia, which is what our "defence force" should be used for. A Tandem Thrust spokesman also states, "while peacekeeping/making exercises are important, they are practiced in other Defence exercise schedules". If Australia needed to defend itself, it would be a land exercise aimed at "preventing" an invasion from sea, and we would hardly defend ourselves under a United States-led coalition. The clear objective of the Tandem Thrust exercise is to practice being part of a US invasion force, arriving by ocean with an amphibious landing, and where the "opposing force" is a land army. This scenario can only be determined as a hostile invasion of a third nation. Environmental destruction Aldo Borgu, Senior Adviser to the Defence Minister stated recently that "an Australian led environmental group which includes US environmentalists is working, and will continue to do so throughout the exercise, to provide advice and assistance on environmental issues as required. President of the Wildlife Protection Association Pat O'Brien, who is working in conjunction with the Anti-Bases Campaign, questioned just who these "environmentalists" were. The Tandem Thrust spokesperson replied, "The Combined Environmental Management Group will comprise personnel from the Australian and United States Defence Forces, the Defence Estate Organisation, a representative from the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority, personnel from Defence Corporate Support Offices in Rockhampton and Brisbane, and a Damage Control engineering group made up of ADF and US engineering personnel". Of the eight different groups charged with protecting the Great Barrier Reef during this exercise, seven are military organisations, with a lone Australian civilian representative. There are certainly no "US environmentalists" involved. Newsflash! War stops for dugong! Mr O'Brien also asked, "Will the US Navy or the ADF be using or testing in Australian waters experimental low frequency sonar technology similar to a type that has previously been linked to the stranding of sperm whales, sea turtles, and other endangered marine species?" The initial response from the Tandem Thrust spokesperson was: "The US will not be conducting experimental low frequency trials". However, further on in the interview, the spokesperson did admit that to protect marine life they would only be: "Limiting the use of low frequency sonars". The spokesperson also said that during the wargames, "if animals are detected, the activity will be stopped until the animals depart or it is assessed they are no longer at risk". It appears the US military wants us to believe that entire operation would be brought to a standstill if a dugong strays into Shoalwater Bay! However, the spokesperson assured that they would be taking action to ensure that such animals were "deterred from the area". Perhaps by firing a warning shot across their bow? Nuclear threat Pat O'Brien asked: "Will any vessel or aircraft involved in Tandem Thrust be armed with nuclear weapons in Australian air space or Australian waters?" Responding to this, the spokesman replied, "As this is a training exercise, there will be no nuclear weapons deploying for the exercise". Obviously they would not fire live nuclear missiles during the exercise. However, this does not answer Mr O'Brien's question. By omission, we can assume that nuclear-armed ships, submarines and aircraft will be active during the war preparations. On dealing with nuclear accidents we have been assured: "There are comprehensive safety precautions in place to deal with any emergency that may arise". How will these comprehensive safety precautions protect the cities of Gladstone or Rockhampton in the event of an accidental misfire of an American nuclear weapon? How will they protect the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park in the event of a radioactive waste leaking into the ocean from reactor spill on a nuclear submarine? Depleted uranium now closer to home" The question of depleted-uranium shells was also raised. The Tandem Thrust spokesman specified: "Units will not fire depleted uranium or uranium tipped bullets or shells in SWBTA or the GBRMPA". Earlier, the spokesperson made it clear that Tandem Thrust would be conducted in three separate areas: the Coral Sea; the Shoalwater Bay Training Area (SWBTA); and areas of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park (GBRMP). Notably, he did not include the Coral Sea in his depleted uranium answer. This is perhaps because the "highlight" of the exercise will be the sinking of the "USS Reeves" in the Coral Sea. The ADF Warfare Centre website describes it as "a major Live Firing Exercise between May 25 and 29. The former "USS REEVES" (an 8,000 tonne, 165 metre Leahy class cruiser) will be the 'targeted' hulk to be sunk in a position approximately 250 nautical miles east of Gladstone, in 12,000 feet of water, by air guided weapons and naval gunfire." Mr O'Brien asks a commonsense question: "We have strong concerns about the demolition of a vessel off the Queensland coastline. Doesn't the ADF or the US military have a recycling program where this vessel could be dismantled and reused to save scarce resources?" The Tandem Thrust spokesperson says, "A rigorous Australian and US certification procedure has cleared the HULK. Environment Australia has confirmed that the HULK is suitable for sinking at sea". While 8,000 tonnes of steel may be suitable for sea burial, the tonnes of highly toxic ammunition used to sink it will not be. A Royal Australian Navy commander excitedly told ABC news, "The ships will go in and shoot, they'll shoot some standard missiles in the surface to surface mode and (shoot) their guns at it". "But the explosive content is probably not enough to sink it, whereas the Air Force with their laser guided bombs, thousand-pounders, should be sufficient to take it to the bottom", he said. Along with all the uranium-tipped steel piercing ammunition used, no doubt. Doubleplusungood" United States military propaganda is a triumph of "doublespeak". Their invasions make a mockery of the words "defence", "democracy" and "human rights", ideals which they claim to hold so dear. Australia's participation in previous US-led invasions in Korea and Vietnam must be remembered with great sadness -- for the tragic loss of our young soldiers' lives, and for the immeasurable pain and suffering perpetrated against those people all in the name of American economic interests. In Iraq, Kuwait, Bosnia and Yugoslavia thousands of workers, farmers and their children live in radioactive wastelands, amongst the hundreds of thousands of radioactive shells that have rained down on their homelands. They are suffering from birth defects, cancers and new unidentifiable diseases, and they are dying slowly and painfully. Now our Government has willingly committed us to participating with the United States military in rehearsing yet another invasion. They intend to deploy 27,000 troops over the Great Barrier Reef, using nuclear-armed and powered war machines, and fire thousands of rounds of highly toxic ammunition, all the while promising to protect our fragile marine environment! How can we trust them with our turtles, dugongs and coral when their military pollution is killing thousands of people around the globe? Say NO to Australia's involvement in Tandem Thrust! To join the protest against Australia's involvement in "Tandem Thrust" exercises contact: Australian Anti-Bases Campaign PO Box A899, Sydney South NSW 1235 Ph: (02) 9517 9425 website: www.anti-bases.org ********************************************************* -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Subscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsubscribe: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
LL:ART: 27,000 troops prepare for invasion and war
Communist Party of Australia Thu, 03 May 2001 19:42:42 -0700
