The following Editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of
the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, February 5,
2003.
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1. Editorial: The hard sell of hypocrisy and lies
Rolling around the world the gathering storm of people's opposition is
lashing the war drive of the US, British and Australian Governments. The
"hard sell" being undertaken by Bush, Blair and Howard to justify war is
being increasingly recognised and dismissed as lies and hypocrisy. Once
again they are trotting out the outrageous deception that they are
concerned about peace and that no decision for war has been taken. Bush
declares that he would launch war to maintain peace!
Peace will never been achieved by the building of a huge war machine and
threats to use nuclear weapons.
"Not in our name" is the reply of those who vehemently oppose the war
preparations.
"No blood for oil" sums up the incisive understanding of the real
objectives of the Anglo-American oil lobby whose cause is being pursued
by their respective governments.
The mass media is playing a particularly despicable role. It gives top
billing to any and every statement by Bush, Blair, Colin Powell, Howard
and their like. The worldwide sweep of the peace movement that even now
is making these warmongering politicians waver, goes largely unreported.
The statement of Hans Blix disputing interpretations being given to his
report to the UN Security Council by Colin Powell and President Bush has
been virtually ignored. The demonisation of Iraq and North Korea that
underpins the whole war drive remains uncontested by the media.
This is understandable coming from the likes of Packer and Murdoch.
The present is a defining moment for all nations, all governments and
each individual. A war on Iraq and on many other countries over the next
few years would result in the deaths of hundreds of millions of people.
Only those governments and individuals that make a genuine stand for
peace will be able to say that their hands are clean.
It is to be hoped that journalists find the courage to take a principled
stand and do more to tell the truth about the warmongers and, thereby,
help save the world from the greatest possible disaster.
Beware provocations
The Los Angeles Times has revealed the creation of an organisation by US
Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld called the "Proactive, Preemptive
Operations Group" Its purpose is to "bring together CIA and military
covert action, information warfare, intelligence, and cover and
deception". The PPOG's role is to manufacture the terrorism that is to
be combatted.
Faced with the massive opposition to their war plans Bush and his team
may again be planning some terrorist act to provoke massive revulsion
and whip a sceptical and reluctant world into supporting war against
Iraq and other targets.
Chris Floyd of CounterPunch writes, "The US government is planning to
use 'cover and deception' and secret military operations to provoke
murderous terrorist attacks on innocent people. Such operations are not
new for the United States authorities.
"Operations Northwoods" was such a scheme. It was a plan put forward by
America's top military brass in 1963 to justify the invasion of Cuba. It
called for a phony terrorist campaign complete with bombings,
hijackings, plane crashes and dead Americans to provide justification
for an invasion of Cuba. President Kennedy rejected the plan -- and was
assassinated a few months later.
Another similar provocation was a reported attack by Vietnamese naval
craft on the US navy in the Tonkin Gulf. It was used by President
Johnson to escalate the invasion of Vietnam by American forces. It was
subsequently revealed that the incident never took place - but that was
after hundreds of thousands of soldiers and civilians were killed in the
Vietnam War.
Many believe that the events of September 11 were another such
provocation using a terrorist organisation infiltrated by the CIA and
under its effective control. There is no other logical explanation for
the complete failure of the interception of the hijacked planes that
crashed into the World Trade Centre and the Pentagon. September 11 has
been used by Bush, Rumsfeld, Cheney and others to launch the phony "war
on terrorism".
The "war on terrorism" requires a steady stream of alleged "terrorist"
actions and who better to arrange them than the CIA and Rumsfeld's
"Proactive, Preemptive Operations Group" or other "special" forces.
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