The following editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of
the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, August 13th,
2003. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010
Australia.
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Editorial - Bomber Beazley remains Bomber Beazley
Last week when Kim Beazley, who presently does not hold any shadow
portfolio on the ALP's front bench, was interviewed on the ABC's
Lateline program, he demonstrated that he has lost none of the
bellicosity that earned him the name of "Bomber Beazley" when he was
Minister of Defence in the Keating and Hawke Governments.
When asked about the most recent terrorist attack on the Marriott Hotel
in Jakarta, Beazley responded: "We can only defend by attacking. We have
to attack them at the very heart of their operations".
Recalling that the bombing took place in Indonesia one wonders how and
with what forces Australia is going to become involved in "attacking"
"them". Or is the former Defence Minister lining up to declare that
Indonesia is also a "failed state" and should open itself to the
Australian and US military forces?
Beazley repeated the same message when answering a question about
Australia's credibility in the region and the need for a "credible
well-resourced and effective intelligence community". "I'm not simply
talking about home. I'm talking about internationally .It's a war that
can only be won by attack", he said.
The implication is that Australia's intelligence agencies should be
roaming around in Indonesia and the Philippines and presumably other
countries and chasing after suspected "terrorists" and attacking "them".
Beazley said "the principal attacking agency (sic) are the intelligence
agencies backed up by the police and may be, from time to time, by
defence forces." So there we have it - all arms of Australia's
intelligence, police and military forces are to become involved in the
domestic affairs of other states as they are now doing in the Solomon
Islands.
It is a dangerous game that can only further erode Australia's standing
in the region among states that value their independence and will not
countenance interference in their internal affairs by Australia and the US.
Beazley claimed that "We need respect in our region right now" and
clearly believes that "respect" and "credibility" is achieved by "strike
capabilities" rather than by a policy of peace and friendship, mutually
beneficial trade and respect for the sovereignty and independence of all
nations.
Responding to a question on Korea, Beazley declared that "there is no
doubt at all that if a war broke out Australia would be involved". At
the same time he claims that the US "is actually playing this quite
sensibly" while swallowing completely the US and media hype about the
so-called "North Korean problem". It is not a "North Korean problem" but
an "American problem" that is the root cause of the current dispute.
US threats, the continued occupation of South Korea by US military
forces, their refusal to support or encourage the calls of South Korea,
China and Russia for a peaceful settlement and the total silence of
Australian politicians and the media on the high level steps being taken
by both North and South Korea to overcome the division of the Korean
peninsular, all show that their game is to try to find a pretext for
military action against North Korea.
Beazley, together with the US leaders, hopes to be able to use China and
Russia to put pressure on and to politically isolate North Korea. "It
[the US] is trying to bring China in, who have substantial influence
over the North Koreans, to be part of an essential settlement of the
North Korean problem", said Beazley.
It needs to be acknowledged that Beazley did assert that a war would
"devastate the economies of our major trading partners and kill an awful
lot of people". He went on however, "I can tell you this - if a war did
break out . then the submarines, the F-111s, the navy, the air force .
would play a vital role in the activities that would then be undertaken."
Once again Beazley's remarks indicate the similarity of his policies to
those of Prime Minister John Howard.
Lateline's interviewer, Maxine McKew, asked whether his [Beazley's]
policies would "sit comfortably with today's Labor Caucus". I would
suggest that if the US did not handle the situation with "suitable
deftness" it "could fan enormous anti-alliance sentiment within the
Labor Party", she said.
Beazley did not answer this question.
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