The continuous wars that we have been
involved with such as the War on Terror have not been in Australia’s interest.
We’ve really been in a state of continuous war since George Bush Senior’s Gulf
War in 1991. We did not get a peace dividend at the end of the Cold War. George
W.Bush’s 2003 Invasion of Iraq killed hundreds of thousands people and
destroyed that nation. The United States promoted sectarian divisions between
the Shite and Sunni Muslims in order to retain control in what had been largely
a secular nation. It created the conditions for the rise of the ‘Islamic State’
and is thus responsible for the current crisis. The US’s actions changed the
map of the Middle East that had been drawn up since the end of World War One by
the victors.
Australia, US and British military
involvement in Iraq and soon Syria has only fuelled a desperate situation.
Western bombs have not and will not stop Isis, they will only deepen misery,
further fragment these countries and spread bitterness throughout the region.
The Isis atrocities against civilians are horrific, but they should not be used
as a justification for the failed policies which have helped create terrorism.
The only force that can stop the Isis is the Kurdish, Iraqi and Syrian peoples.
Australia should remove the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) from its list of
declared ‘terrorist’ organisations and press the US and other governments to do
the same. Australia must exert pressure on Turkey to cease its support for the
Isis (deny any transit to Isis fighters coming or going, etc.). We
should also pressure Turkey to end their war against their Kurdish minority
population.
The fear campaigns have made people
scared for no reason and has led to increased racial attacks on Muslim
Australians. The Australia Guardian’s Michael Safi Australians think Muslim population is nine
times greater than it really is article reported on 30-10-14 that most
Australians believe the Muslim population in Australia is eighteen per cent when
it is only two per cent. This fear has been generated by the media
and politicians. Andrew Wilkie, former army colonel, intelligence analyst and
member of parliament said “There is no doubt that the Abbot Government is
playing up the terror threat for political gain.” 16-6-2015.
Abbott asked Obama to bomb Syria, not
an invite is it? Visiting Pakistani born British journalist, writer and
filmmaker Tariq Ali said of Abbott sending our Air Force to bomb Isis in Syria,
“It's an absolute desperation, and he's hoping that it might win him a by-election
victory,….. And he does need the war. Not that it'll necessarily do the trick.
What politicians still fail to realise is that the more that they go into these
countries, the more the war will come back to them. They hate seeing the link,
but without the link you can't understand the rise in jihadi currents in the
West. Why weren't they there 30 years ago?” Tony
Abbott's Syria gamble will backfire: Tariq Ali by Bianca Hall, The Melbourne Age 26-8-15.
Abbott is another Australian politician
using a war & our military for political gain. Today marked 50 years since
then prime minister Robert Menzies sent Australian troops to the Vietnam War,
and we have Australian military forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.
There is also the real possibility that
Australia will be dragged into a war with China by the US. The late Malcolm
Fraser warned of this and proposed that Australia should remove ourselves from
the US military alliance, remove the US Troops from Northern Australia and
close the US’s Pine Gap Base and become independent.
As someone who protested against Fraser
in 1975 when he became prime minster with Whitlam’s sacking he made a lot of sense.
Ironically Pine Gap was a major issue in Whitlam’s dismissal because he
threatened not to renew the lease for it with the US.
Knowledge of our past helps us to
understand our present and to shape its future. We won’t have a future if
people don’t involve themselves in politics and stand up for our liberties. The
points that Fraser pointed to are fundamental not just for Australia but to
humanity as whole for it would take us away from a war with China and a certain
nuclear holocaust.