The following article was published in "The Guardian", newspaper
of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday,
October 24th, 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.
******************************
AUSTRALIA AT WAR -- WHAT FOR?
John Howard, his Minister for War, Peter Reith, ably backed by Kim
Beazley, jumped onto the war chariot last week. It's to be a khaki
election with Howard and Beazley grovelling before George Bush and Tony
Blair, the main war cheerleaders. However, the consequences of the war,
so enthusiastically entered into by both the Liberal and Labor Party
leaderships, will remain with the world for many years to come.
Their commitment of Australian troops, naval vessels and planes has not
been considered by Australia's parliament nor have the Australian people
been consulted in any way. The media immediately joined the war chorus
without raising any questions about the real circumstances or the
justification for the US attacks on Afghanistan.
"Go with pride" trumpeted the front page of Sydney's "Daily Telegraph"
to Australian military forces going off to bring death and terror to
innocent Afghanis.
The war is illegal. It is a violation of the United Nations Charter
which has been pushed aside by the US and Britain. No evidence has been
made public to substantiate the claim that the Taliban or Osama bin
Laden were actually responsible for the terrorist attack on the World
Trade Centre.
It is a war by the richest and militarily strongest power in the world
against one of the most poverty stricken countries whose people have
already suffered over two decades of war and civil strife.
No clear war aims have been stated except the vague claim that it is a
"war against terrorism". There is no doubt that the attack on the WTC
was a terrorist act but the impoverished people of Afghanistan are
certainly not responsible.
No-one has come up with a clear definition of terrorism nor can they
because it depends on the social, economic and political aims being
pursued in a world that remains torn by many conflicts.
Those who struggled and fought for the elimination of apartheid in South
Africa were branded as terrorists by the apartheid authorities. Israel
brands the Palestinian people, whose struggle for statehood is now
supported in words by Bush and Blair, as terrorists. They are not
terrorists but freedom fighters.
Osama bin Laden was also called a "freedom fighter" when he and the
Taliban were fighting against the Soviet Union. Now the same Taliban and
Osama bin Laden are branded as terrorists.
The real war aims - to establish American military bases in Afghanistan
and Pakistan, to destabilise the southern republics of the former Soviet
Union, to colonise these republics, to seize the oil riches of the
Caspian Sea area, to control Russia and to reestablish compliant regimes
in every country of the world - are being hidden.
The war being waged against Afghanistan (and the US intends to bomb
other countries as well) will not solve the problems created by
humiliation, occupation, exploitation, poverty, homelessness,
unemployment, a lack of health care and education.
The immediate casualties of this dirtiest of wars are the innocent
people of Afghanistan and this is already apparent from the TV pictures
now appearing on our screens.
Far from eliminating the desperate and sometimes blind acts created by
these social evils, the present war will inevitably create more
generations of people who have nothing to lose.
The consequences of enraging many of the world's more than 2 billion
Muslims, most of whom live in dire poverty, does not seem to have been
even considered. No matter how much Bush and Blair proclaim that it is
not a war against Muslims, their targets are Muslim countries.
It is into this illegal and immoral conflict that the Australian
government and opposition have recklessly thrown Australian forces at
the behest of the US.
In yet another display of hypocrisy, Pakistan which has supported the
Taliban and may have been involved in the attack on the WTC, is being
bribed with promises of aid to the tune of US$1 billion to "bolster its
economy" But the money required for Afghan refugees is falling pitifully
short. Hundreds of thousands of innocent Afghan people may starve during
the coming winter months.
Where are the flights that were seen when hundreds of Kosovo refugees
were flown to Australia during the bombing of Yugoslavia? The Australian
Government's present response is to imprison Afghani refugees on Nauru,
PNG and other islands.
Although Howard is claiming the existence of a worldwide coalition the
reality is that although every government without exception has
condemned terrorism, the recent APEC meeting did not endorse the US
bombing of Afghanistan nor did it support the condemnation of the
Taliban or Osama bin Laden. Many Muslim countries have demanded proof -
which has not been supplied. The APEC communique also called for the
involvement of the United Nations in the conflict.
Before the APEC meeting a gathering of the leaders of the 56 countries
of the Arab League also did not endorse the war against Afghanistan.
Howard declared that Australian forces would "be in the thick of it" and
indicated that Afghanistan is not the only target country. He spoke of
the "broader extermination of people who would launch terror attacks on
other people around the world".
The attempt to stir up war hysteria is being accompanied by more
restrictions on democratic rights. Surveillance is being stepped up. The
"security" argument is being used to justify the suppression of
democratic rights and to introduce secrecy.
Furthermore, the war against Afghanistan is being used as a major
diversion from the real interests of the Australian people.
However, there are indications that the Australian people are by no
means supportive of this criminal war. "Radio callers oppose troop
commitment" ran a "Financial Review" headline (19/10/01). The opposition
will continue to grow as the enormity of the war that has been embarked
upon at the behest of the American Government is realised.
The task is to stop the war now, before even more casualties and
suffering are inflicted on the people of Afghanistan, and before the
Howard Government entangles Australia in a catastrophe of horrifying
proportions.
**********************************************************
--
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
