John Howard is a war criminal
Posted by John, July 7th, 2016 - under Iraq, John Howard, War, War crimes.
Comments: 1
After the Chilcot Report was handed down, the lying rodent, former Australian Prime Minister John Howard, crawled out from under his taxpayer funded dung heap today to defend his decision to join with Blair and Bush in invading Iraq in 2003. Among other things he said: ‘There was no lie. There were errors in intelligence, but there was no lie.’
Let’s be clear. They lied to us to justify the criminal imperialist invasion. Bush lied to the American people and the world to justify it. Blair lied to the British people and the world to justify it. Howard lied to the Australian people to justify it.
As independent MP Andrew Wilkie says Howard and others have blood on their hands.
It is the blood not just of those, including Australians, who have died at the hands of the terrorists that the invasion spawned. It is the blood of the perhaps more than 1 million Iraqis, mainly civilians, who have died as a result of the invasion. It is the dead and destroyed soldiers on all sides.
The madness the invasion began continues today in Iraq and Syria. ISIS is the end result of the invasion. Millions of refugees in the Middle East and a few hundred thousand in Europe or wanting to flee to Europe are a testament to the lies of our bloodthirsty rulers. Today’s version of those rulers now wants to stop the tide of humanity their bombs have unleashed. Don’t invade might be a good starting point.
War criminals like Bush, Blair and Howard will never face any court of justice. That is for Western supported dictators who go rogue.
The real justice they must face is that of the millions who said no to the war in Iraq before and while it was happening. The demonstrations in Australia against the invasion of Iraq were the biggest ever seen in our history. I along with 15000 others marched in Canberra against the war. Hundreds of thousands turned out in the big Australian cities. Howard ignored us all to join with Bush in this reckless imperialist adventure to re-establish the US as the dominant power in the region and the world. It failed miserably.
Howard joined with Bush not because he is a Yankee lap dog but because it was in the interests of Australian capitalism to do so. Australia is an imperialist power in the region and wants to expand its influence. It can really only do so now under the umbrella of US power. Joining the invasion is also an insurance policy for future US protection against the other growing power in the region, China. That is why we are hosting a US base in Darwin as the uS under Obama tilts towards the region, recognising the growing threat Chinese imperialism poses to the US’s dominant role across the globe.
By all means let’s demand Bush and Blair and Howard be sent to The Hague to be put on trial for war crimes. It will not happen. Let’s build a mass movement that doesn’t fall like a shooting star (as the anti-Iraq War movement did, partly because the ALP supported it once troops were sent.) That means building movements against war, against racism, against Islamophobia, against attacks on unions and on living standards. Most of all it means building a vibrant fighting left. That is why I am a member of small socialist group Solidarity. Let’s join together in the fight against war, against imperialism, against austerity, against capitalism.