Australia Joins Parade of War Criminals en route to War Conference

March 20, 2003. Mass anti-war action as Australian people reject U.S. imperialist aggression in Iraq alongside people around the world.

Angus Campbell, chief of Australian Imperial Defence Staff, is billed as a lead speaker by the NATO-sponsored, U.S.-organized "Halifax" Imperial Insecurity Forum. An official inquiry has just confirmed Australian soldiers were involved in the unlawful killing of dozens of Afghan civilians. It found 25 special forces soldiers killed 39 civilians in practices known as "throwdowns," where concealable weapons were placed on the bodies of those killed in order to photograph evidence to justify the killings.

The "whistleblower," David McBride, former soldier, has been charged with five offences including theft of Commonwealth property and the unauthorized disclosure of material to journalists after leaking documents about the unlawful killings of unarmed civilians in Afghanistan to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Australian academic Tim Anderson, commenting on the matter offers the reminder that "as we consider these shocking war crimes committed by Australian forces, let's not forget Australian Air Force participation in the massacre of more than 120 Syrian soldiers at Deir Ezzor in September 2016, to assist ISIS terrorists."

"NATO and Australia have been engaged in dialogue and cooperation since 2005. Australia is one of a range of countries beyond the Euro-Atlantic area -- often referred to as 'partners across the globe' -- with which NATO is strengthening relations," according to NATO's website. In 2011 it agreed to host a base for U.S. Marines in Darwin as part of Obama's "pivot to Asia." The website further says that Australia "currently provides support for NATO-led defence capacity building efforts in Afghanistan and has committed to supporting the new NATO Mission Iraq."

Without even the fig leaf of a resolution from the UN Security Council, the Anglo-American occupation of Afghanistan from 2001 to date set a new low in all the norms of human conduct that now pervades international relations. It signalled one of the clearest markers of the terrible danger that confronts humanity.

The war in Afghanistan was officially launched to avenge the attacks of September 11, 2001. However, it had been prepared beforehand. The war, which was supposed to last two weeks, has been going on for 19 years. It is planned to last as long as possible.

Canadian Forces under the command of Gen Rick Hillier were alleged to be involved in torture of Afghan. Hillier infamously vilified Afghans as "scumbags." To date this has been swept under the rug. Hillier became Chief of Defence Staff and then Chancellor of Memorial University in Newfoundland (2008-2012).

The so-called Halifax International Security Forum was inaugurated in 2009 by U.S. Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. In the opening session, then-Defence Minister Peter MacKay, sounding like a yes-man, stated, "We take great pride in knowing that Canadians' contribution to transatlantic cooperation as a steadfast reliable friend and ally is recognized." Gates lauded Canada as a "major contributor" to the Afghan war, for helping to "hold the line in the South before U.S. reinforcements arrived." This followed the celebrated mini-surge that began in the latter days of the Bush administration, which was subsequently bolstered by Obama's addition of another 20,000 troops. In line with the warmongering agenda of the conference, Hillier and U.S. Senator McCain together advocated that "U.S. President Obama send in thousands more troops to establish security." Hillier avoided questions of his personal responsibility for the alleged torture of prisoners under his command.

Gates further called in his speech on the Harper government to now play a greater role in "hemispheric security," i.e., Fortress America. Thus, after a year of inflammatory statements about Russian intentions in the Arctic -- which followed hard on the heels of the 2008 "August war" in Georgia -- and as part of the secret deal-making, MacKay and Gates signed an agreement on November 20, 2009 providing for the annual participation of U.S. Marines in the Nanook war games. This participation began in 2010, in the name of "protecting Canadian sovereignty in the Arctic" -- a peculiar concept of sovereignty! In parallel, Canada began that year to deploy warships to the Caribbean in the now annual "Op Caribbe" deployment under control of U.S. Southcom under the pretext of drug interdiction. In 2011, Canada established a military base in Jamaica where it began taking part in U.S.-led naval exercises along with Mexico.

Malalai Joya, a former Afghan parliamentarian and opponent of the occupation of her country, addressed the rally against the War Conference, and also spoke to a packed auditorium that night. Ms Joya was refused entrance to the "security forum."

Joya said, "Democracy never comes by war, by fire of guns, by cluster bomb," pointing out that thousands of innocent Afghan civilians were being killed on the ground by terrorists and warlords, and from the air, by the bombing of the NATO occupying forces.

"Many of the weapons and bombs used in Afghanistan, used against my people, are made in Canada," Joya said to shouts of "shame" from the protesters. "You have dropped two-thousand-pound large, Canadian-made bombs in my hometown which killed over 150 civilians, mainly women and children."

War Criminals Are Not Welcome in Canada!

(With files from Tony Seed.)

This article was published in

Volume 50 Number 45 - November 21, 2020

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Australia Joins Parade of War Criminals en route to War Conference

    

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