The following Editorial was published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, December 11th, 2002. Contact address: 65 Campbell Street, Surry Hills. Sydney. 2010 Australia. Phone: (612) 9212 6855 Fax: (612) 9281 5795. CPA Central Committee: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> "The Guardian": <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Webpage: http://www.cpa.org.au> Subscription rates on request.
****************************** Editorial: The choice before the Australian people Reactions to Prime Minister Howard's talk of "preventive strikes" continue to reverberate in Asian countries. The Foreign Ministers of the ten countries making up the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) are to meet to consider Howard's remarks and their implications. Despite the attempts of Howard and Foreign Minister Downer to explain away their remarks, Asian countries are seeing them for what they are - assertions of aggressive intentions, disregard for the sovereignty and independence of neighbouring countries and an intention to interfere in the internal affairs of other countries. Howard claimed in Parliament that "nothing that I said was directed against our friends in neighbouring countries", a statement that immediately raises the question of which countries in Asia does Australia not regard as "friends"? His earlier remarks were very clear and specific. The original question from journalist Laurie Oaks was, "If you knew that Jl people in another neighbouring country were planning an attack on Australia would you be prepared to act?" Howard replied, "Oh yes. It stands to reason that if you believed that somebody was going to launch an attack against your country, either of a conventional kind or of a terrorist kind and you had a capacity to stop it and there was no alternative other than to use that capacity, then of course you would have to use it." In these statements, the Australian Government is echoing the extremely bellicose remarks of the US administration and President Bush's threat to launch a preemptive war against Iraq. It is not a new policy on the part of the United States. The US has launched unprovoked wars or interventions against Panama, Grenada, Somalia, Libya, Iran, Colombia, Cuba, Afghanistan and a number of other countries. These acts of aggression and the present call for pre-emptive strikes are illegal under international law, violate the UN Charter and are morally indefensible. The fact that the Asian nations have reacted so strongly to the remarks of Howard rather than to the remarks of Bush reflects the fact that Australia is only a "bit" player and the Asian nations feel that it is possible to say what they think about aggression should it be undertaken by Australia, whereas the US is more threatening and is able to wreak vengeance on most nations either by economic pressure or by military means. Furthermore, the Asian countries are becoming stronger in economic, political and military terms and their unity in ASEAN is leading to a kind of collective security that is backed by the People's Republic of China. The massive anti-American demonstrations sweeping South Korea and their demands for the removal of US troops and bases are indicative of the changes taking place in Asia. One can only be appalled at the ignorance and the arrogance of the Australian leadership. Ignorance, in their failure to understand that the old colonial regimes have gone forever and have been replaced by independent countries that take pride in their sovereignty; arrogant, in expecting that other countries can be brow-beaten by the sort of aggression and intervention that was commonly practiced by the imperialist governments that ruled Asian countries for centuries. By tagging along behind and echoing US warmongering the Australian Government hopes that it will be able to pick up some rewards in a world dominated by the US transnational corporations. Britain Australia and the US virtually stand alone in pursuing the policy of pre-emptive strike. Other countries are demanding adherence to international law and to the principles of the United Nations Charter. They want to live in peace and security as independent nations and have the opportunity to lift the living standards and opportunities for their people. These opportunities are being denied by the warmongers and by the threats such as those being made by Howard, Downer, Hill, Bush and Blair. The choice between these two policies is one that the Australian people must make, hopefully in favour of peace, security and the recognition of the right of nations to independence and sovereignty. If the wrong choice is made, the consequences for Australia may be far-reaching and unpleasant. **************************************************************************** -- -- 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