The following Editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of
the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, October
15th, 2003.
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Editorial: Indonesian and Australian militarists gather while ASIS gets
weapons
In yet another step towards the militarisation of Australian Government
agencies, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer is to introduce legislation
that will enable officers of the Australian Secret Intelligence Service
(ASIS) to carry arms in both national and overseas operations.
In justification, Downer cites the participation of ASIS operatives in
the fight against terrorism. He says, "We're sending intelligence
officers to follow up on terrorism and they operate in very difficult,
very dangerous environments."
ASIS officers would also be allowed to work more closely with foreign
intelligence agencies that routinely have staff carry weapons, such as
the CIA.
The announcement reveals that ASIS operates overseas not only as an
organisation gathering intelligence; it is also involved actively in the
internal politics of other countries. As such ASIS will be a covert
participant involved in conflicts and the possible assassination of
alleged terrorists as part of the phony war on terrorism.
The likely partners of ASIS in this work are the American CIA, Mossad,
the Israeli intelligence organisation that is notorious for its
assassination of alleged Palestinian opponents of Israel's state
terrorism, MI5 and other British intelligence organisations which
sustains worldwide operations and, in the region, the Indonesian
military's murderous commando force, Kopassus.
Not for nothing has Kopassus become notorious as the spearhead of
repression and terror in Indonesia, against its own people. Then there
is its role in the decades of occupation of East Timor and massacres
that took place there, as well as the ongoing occupation of West Papua.
It is the military force that sustained the dictatorship of General
Soeharto for 30 years.
Downer is reported as saying that in the past ASIS did not have
paramilitary capabilities so the use of weapons was unnecessary. Does
the proposed change indicate that ASIS has now become a paramilitary
organisation? It is a description that is synonymous with death squads
in a number of countries.
The ban on ASIS carrying weapons was first introduced in the early 1980s
following an ASIS raid on the Sheraton Hotel in Melbourne. ASIS went on
a rampage, threatening civilians and bashing in doors. Has the behaviour
of ASIS changed?
The Howard Government decided in August to re-establish relations with
the Kopassus and Defence Minister Robert Hill has proposed the
resumption of training in Australia of Kopassus forces.
A Kopassus delegation to Australia has only been put on hold because the
delegation was to include Major-General Sriyanto. The Major-General is
on trial for murder in an Indonesian human rights court.
However, he remains in his command and would be a welcome visitor as far
as the Australian Government is concerned.
It is timely to recall that in 1995 Paul Keating and Gareth Evans
secretly entered into a "security" treaty with the Soeharto regime. It
was an attempt to head off the revolutionary changes that were about to
break out in Indonesia and to enlist Indonesia in the wider plans of
imperialism in the Asian region.
Militarist and political forces that are prepared to play this role
continue to exist in Indonesia. The idea of a new treaty was raised
during the recent visit of Indonesia's Minister for Security Mr
Yudhoyono, who is a former four-star general of the Indonesian army. He
urges "cooperation", claiming that 9/11 has changed everything.
Richard Woolcott, a former Australian Ambassador to Indonesia
immediately welcomed the idea saying that he supported a renewed
"defence agreement".
These "straws in the wind" are a clear indication that the militarists
in the imperialist camp are getting together in a number of countries to
defend their common interests against the rising tide of peoples resistance.
Although talk of a new "security" treaty has been downplayed by
Alexander Downer the idea is clearly alive and well among the
fascist-minded militarists in both Indonesia and Australia. It is a step
that they will be working hard behind the scenes to bring about - soon!
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