The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper of
the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, December 4,
2002.
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Government aggression outrages Australia's neighbours
The Howard Government's support for pre-emptive strike action has
outraged Australia's neighbours. Last week Defence Minister Senator
Robert Hill declared that the UN Charter should define such action as a
self-defence right "better suited to contemporary realities". This week
Prime Minister Howard stated that any national leader should regard
pre-emptive action as a legitimate responsibility.
by Peter Mac
Hill declared ".when an armed attack against a state is imminent that
state is not compelled to wait until the first blow has been struck.
"But what action can a state legitimately take when that attack is to be
launched by a non-state actor, in a non-conventional manner, operating
from bases in disparate parts of the world?"
Apparently the Minister's answer is hit any country you like.
On Monday, the Philippines Minister for Defence joined spokesmen for the
governments of Indonesia and other Asian nations in expressing horror at
the Australian Government's stand, and said he was amazed that any
national leader could make such statements.
ALP shadow Defence Minister Chris Ellison commented angrily that "Robert
Hill suggests international law allows countries to determine for
themselves whether a particular suite of circumstances justifies a
pre-emptive military attack.
"The Minister is advocating a doctrine that allows each country to
conduct military strikes in the name of self-defence, even though the
Charter was intended to provide a means of resolving conflicts peacefully."
The Australian Government has cynically used the New York and Bali
terrorist attacks to resurrect the "forward defence" policy which the
Menzies Government used to justify Australia's disastrous involvement in
the hideous Vietnam War.
Senator Hill said that intelligence warnings of an imminent terrorist
attack justify military action against terrorists active in a country
other than their own.
If Hill's argument were taken seriously, then it could be argued that
any country (and there are many) which perceives itself as threatened by
the US and its allies would be justified in attacking them first.
For example, Iraq which has been subjected to a continuing barrage of
threats since the S11 attack (not to mention the actual blockade of
civilian aid and the continuing air attacks on its territory) would,
using the same argument, be justified in launching attacks on the United
States, Britain and Australia.
For that matter the terrorists have also been accused of operating in
the Philippines, Singapore, Yemen, Saudi Arabia, Malaysia, Egypt and
others. All these countries have been implicitly threatened by the
statements of Bush, Blair and Howard, and as a result would now be
justified in initiating "pre-emptive strike" action against the US,
Britain and Australia.
Of course, that is not what is intended by Hill's statement. The
pre-emptive strike policy is intended to apply in one direction, with
only the rich and powerful Western nations having the "right" to take
first strike action against the poorer nations or "failed states".
It's the same old savage policy of imperial domination, taken out,
dusted off and dressed up in a sanctimonious new "anti-terrorist" garb.
And it's even more dangerous now than it was in the past. J
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