IMMEDIATE USE 5/2/2003
SENATE MOTION ON IRAQ WELCOMED
The Australian Senate has given the government both barrels on Iraq in
a motion now under debate that censures the government for
forward-deploying troops without revealing to the people of Australia
the commitments on which that deployment has been based.
The Walk Against War Coalition, a Sydney-based coalition of more than 60
groups including religious organizations, trade unions, peace groups,
and a wide variety of community groups has welcomed the vote, while
emphasizing that military action against Iraq would be unacceptable with
or without a UN security council resolution.
According to Coalition spokesperson Hannah Middleton:
"We welcome the fact that the Senate has expressed strong opposition to
unilateral military action with Iraq, and to the manner in which the
current deployment has taken place. In doing so, the Senate has
recognized the fact that a mere 6% of Australians support unilateral
action, while 80% oppose it. We reiterate that even with a Security
Council resolution - a resolution that would inevitably be bought about
by undue pressure from the Bush administration - military action should
not be contemplated, and we are convinced that most Australians will
oppose it. The troops must be bought back."
The Coalition said that:
"We are committing Australian troops to harms way, and participating in
what will mean the deaths of thousands or tens of thousands of Iraqis,
based on a lie. The lie is that Iraq somehow represents a military threat."
"The one thing that is clear from the recent Blix Report and the El
Baradei report is that Iraq really has very little that constitutes any
significant threat to the world. Iraq has little or nothing that
threatens either the region or Australia, and nothing that warrants a
rush to military action. Iraq has questions to answer about Vx
precursor, missiles, and biological agents. That is why we need to keep
the inspectors in Iraq."
"The Senate has sent a signal to the government that our involvement is
ill-advised and precipitate. "
Contact:
Bruce Childs 9389-0993
Hannah Middleton 0418-668-098
Nick Everett 0409-762-081
John Hallam 9567-7533 h9810-2598
The following motion is now being debated in the Australian Senate and
it is hoped it will pass.
I move an amendment to the Government motion in the following terms:
"That the Senate take note of the statement and:
1. Censures the Government for forward-deploying Australian troops to a
potential theatre of war with Iraq in the absence of any United Nations
authorisation and without revealing to the Australian people the
commitments on which that deployment was based;
2. Declares its opposition to a unilateral military attack on Iraq by
the United States;
3. Insists that the disarmament of Iraq proceed under the authority of
the United Nations;
4. Expresses its full support and confidence in our servicemen and
women, while expressing its opposition to the Government's decision to
forward-deploy them;
5. Expresses its total opposition to any use of nuclear arms and that
Australian support should not be provided to any operation where such
weaponry may be used; and
6. Declares that it has no confidence in the Prime Minister's handling
of this grave matter for the nation.
..
--
--
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
Sub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=subscribe%20leftlink
Unsub: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink
