The following articles were published in "The Guardian", newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia in its issue of Wednesday, October 23rd, 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.
****************************** 1. Who is behind Bali atrocity? Faced with strong criticism of the response to the Bali bombing by Prime Minister Howard and Foreign Minister Downer, the government has sent forensic police and an unspecified number of ASIO agents to Indonesia, to identify the victims and to find evidence as to who might have committed this terrorist act. Many American and British agents have joined them. The total lack of evidence at this stage did not stop the Government and the mass media pointing the finger at Islamic fundamentalists as the culprits and calling for the arrest in Indonesia of Abu Bakar Bashir, spiritual leader of Jemaah Islamiyah. The Bali atrocity has been used by the Australian, British and American governments to put heavy pressure on the Indonesian government to arrest Bashir and to join America's bogus "war on terrorism". Having failed to pass on to Australians in Indonesia the warnings that came from American sources of a possible bomb outrage, Government leaders have now swung to the other extreme. The government is now telling all Australians to leave Indonesia based this time on very vague and non-specific warnings. Similar advice is being given to American and British citizens by their governments. However, this advice, if tourists and others working in Indonesia follow it, will have the effect of putting substantial pressure on the Indonesian economy that relies heavily on tourism. This is the intended effect and has the added bonus of reinforcing the fear factor. Undemocratic laws The outside pressure and interference has already forced the Indonesian Government to impose by decree so-called anti-terrorist laws that move the country back towards the undemocratic state of affairs that existed at the time of the Suharto military dictatorship. The Indonesian government is now destroying the democratic rights that were won by the democratic revolution that overthrew the Suharto dictatorship. These laws provide for the detention of citizens for up to six months without charge and for the death penalty for anyone found guilty of committing a terrorist act. They can, and will be used against those in Indonesia who disagree with the policies of the Indonesian rulers, against trade unions and civil rights activists while allowing the foreign investors and local exploiters to make huge profits from cheap Indonesian labour. The Australian Government very slow to give help to the stricken people in Bali, but, on the other hand, Prime Minister Howard was quick to again declare that the fight against terrorism is global. His statement is meant to assure his American patrons and is aimed at justifying Australian involvement in a war against Iraq and any other country that the warmongering Bush administration invades in the future. It is time to recall some main events. The destruction of the World Trade Centre (WTC) on September 11 last year has been used to launch the "war against terrorism". It was used as the excuse to invade and occupy Afghanistan although not even one of those alleged to have flown the planes used in that attack came from Afghanistan. At the time of the civilian planes being hijacked the normal alert mechanisms put in place to enable air force fighter planes to intercept hijacked aircraft were not triggered. Why? George Bush was on a public relations visit to an infants' school when informed of the attacks on the two WTC towers. But instead of attending to his duties as President of the US and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces he merely continued the PR program with the children. Why? The Bush family and the bin Laden family are long time business associates. With Afghanistan crawling with US troops, and FBI and CIA agents, why has Osama bin Laden not been located and arrested and why has the huge media campaign for his arrest or killing been dropped? The WTC bombing also swept away the big anti-Bush movement in the US that was gathering strength before September 11. This movement was generated by the anger of many people over the ballot rigging which allowed Bush to steal the election and put himself in the White House. Another recent event was the attack on the French oil tanker off the coast of Yemen. Why should Islamic terrorists attack a French oil tanker when France was in the lead of those nations opposing the American demand for war? Was the bombing of the oil tanker an attempt to force a change in the policy of the French government? The Bali bombing can also be seen as having objectives in addition to that of putting pressure on Indonesia. The US is concerned at the majority opposition in Australia to war against Iraq. The US Embassy in Canberra even sent its representatives to interview the candidates running in the Cunningham by-election last week in NSW, so concerned are they that public opposition to war will weaken the resolve of the Howard Government to support the intended US aggression. A longer-term objective is to force the Indonesian government to agree to the stationing of US troops in Indonesia as has already happened to the Philippines. No organisation has claimed responsibility for the Bali bombing. The "war against terrorism" requires a steady flow of scare warnings and also alleged "terrorist acts". More such events can be expected with the inevitable loss of many innocent lives. They will be used to implement plans to occupy other countries, establish military bases and install governments that will comply with the demands of those whose ultimate aim is the domination of the world. World events always follow a pattern and it is necessary to ask -- who has the motive and who gains from such events? *********************************************************** .. -- -- Leftlink - Australia's Broad Left Mailing List mailto:leftlink@;vicnet.net.au Archived at http://www.cat.org.au/lists/leftlink/ Sponsored by Melbourne's New International Bookshop Sub: mailto:majordomo@;vicnet.net.au?Body=subscribe%20leftlink Unsub: mailto:majordomo@;vicnet.net.au?Body=unsubscribe%20leftlink