Apols for x-posting.
Chris Chaplin
Preston, Vic
----- Original Message -----
From: "Oquist, Ben (Sen B. Brown)" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, March 20, 2003 5:00 PM
Subject: Greens-Activist The world has failed
Dear all
The Senate passed Greens amendment this afternoon calling for troops
to be brought home immediately. Exact words: "The Senate calls on the
government to immediately return Australia's 2000 Defence Force
personnel home"
Also attached transcript from Brown's press conference+ his release
GREENS SENATOR BOB BROWN
IRAQ WAR
Opposition Leader's Courtyard
Thursday, March 20, 2003
3.15pm
SENATOR BOB BROWN -
Australia is now at war at the behest of President Bush. The hearts
and minds of the Australian people will both be with the two thousand
Australians who are involved in this unnecessary war, which is not
Australia's war, at the behest of John W Howard. And we'll be hoping
they come home safe and secure with the other combatants but also and
very specially with the twenty-six million Iraqi people who are caught
now beneath the cruise missiles and between Saddam Hussein and George
W Bush.
It has to be hoped that as brutal as it will be, this war will be
brief. The world will be hoping that if there has to be casualties,
it will be Saddam Hussein and his hench people. But this is an
illegal war. It is unnecessary. There were better options and there
are better options under the auspices of the world body, the United
Nations. It's an imperial war by the United States.
Australia has been made a vassal to that by Prime Minister Howard
which is an affront to the dignity and pride of this nation. But we
will be with those two thousand Australians, good and true, in heart
and mind, and with the people in Iraq.
In the coming days, we will see unfold some terrifying events. But we
must all think of the millions of people who are huddled in Basra and
Baghdad and the other cities and regions of Iraq in the coming days
and weeks, terrified, helpless and faced with an illegal onslaught
from the most powerful weapons of mass destruction the world has ever
seen arrayed in a situation like this.
As an Australian and a Green, I join with people right around ... the
majority of people around the world and the majority of countries
around this world, including those people of like countries such as
New Zealand and Canada in wishing that our defence force personnel
were here at home, in wishing that the United States and British
weapons were not being unleashed, and in wishing that the United
Nations had been able to continue to contain Saddam Hussein without
the death toll we're about to see unfold.
REPORTER:
Now that the war has actually started - I mean, we have been talking
about it for weeks and weeks - do you think it will hit home to the
government what they've actually done today, that, you know, our
troops are now in there? They're now putting their lives on the line.
Do you think it will at all humble them in any way?
BROWN:
No, I don't. I don't think our Prime Minister has the depth to,
despite what he has said, to understand the horror of the engagement
for Australians now and into the future. We know it is going to
further imperil Australians for years into the future let alone for
the men, women and children - the civilians - of Iraq.
I was horrified myself to see today the government vote down Senator
Nettle's motions to prohibit and to push against the use of cluster
weapons, those horrific indiscriminate weapons used in Afghanistan by
the United States now to be used in Iraq which children pick up,
thinking they're food parcels and get blown to bits. This is a nasty,
savage age of weaponry.
The Prime Minister has put himself behind that. I oppose it.
Millions of Australians oppose it. The majority of the people around
the world oppose it. But all we can ... we who are unable ... and our
country has cashed in, because of the Prime Minister, the opportunity
to put a hand of restraint on George W Bush's shoulders.
But now that John W Howard has done that all that we can do is join
with the rest of the world in pushing to bring this to the shortest
end possible and to continue to push to bring our two thousand
Australians home as soon as possible.
And I say to all Australians who are appalled by these events, go
beyond that, be active, come out into the streets - peaceably. Write
to your politicians, ring them up, go to the Members of Parliament who
have backed this unleashing of these weapons onto the Iraqi people.
Be active about it.
The world is a modern world of communications and as Senator Nettle
said, there is two super powers at play here. One is the United
States of America, the other is world public opinion - and we're
firmly on the side of the latter.
REPORTER:
What do you think this has done to Australia's reputation in the
international community? Our involvement in...
BROWN:
Well, it has done enormous damage to Australia's reputation in the
international community, but, more particularly, in our own region.
There is not one other country in our region who... which is involved
in the way that Australia is with the forward deployment of troops,
not in Asia, not in the southern hemisphere.
And that is why the Prime Minister's reckless behaviour in this
support of George W Bush against this country's interests is going to
be one that disturbs the country for a long time to come, not just in
these days of imperilment for the troops that have been sent to Iraq
by the Prime Minister.
REPORTER:
Will you be joining in any anti-war protests here in Canberra this
afternoon?
BROWN:
I'll be supporting them, and already have, and I will be supporting
all the processes of good people who are frustrated and angered by
what the government has done. I will be at the convergence, here in
Canberra, a major protest outside parliament on Sunday afternoon.
And I will do what I can to support people wherever they are, because,
afterall, this is a mutual thing, who feel our Prime Minister has done
the wrong this by this country, has done the wrong thing by our
service personnel, has done the wrong thing by the world and has done
the wrong thing by the world our children will inherit.
Thanks everybody.
END OF SEGMENT
Thursday, 20 March 2003
World Shame
The world is shamed by the start of this illegal attack on Iraq,
Greens Senator Bob Brown has said today.
"The world has failed. It has failed to stop a President bent on
going to war on Iraq at any cost. It is a shameful day for the
planet," Senator Brown said.
"This morning in Bagdad and Basra millions of innocent Iraqi's are
huddling in terror.
"George W Bush, Tony Blair and John W Howard have brought the
incredible horror of war on a impoverished country and people.
"President George Bush has effectively sent Australia to war.
"The tragedy for this country is that not only did the Australian
Government fail to attempt to stop the Bush administration, they
encouraged it to attack Bagdad.
"This is an oil war, this is not Australia's war.
"John Howard should support our troops by bringing them home," Senator
Brown said.
More information: Ben Oquist 02 6277 3170 or 0419 704 095
Ben Oquist
Adviser to Greens Senator Bob Brown
02 62773170 ph
02 62773185 fx
www.greens.org.au/bobbrown
..
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