Fractures and Dissent in Relation to Australian War on Afghanistan

international | anti-war / imperialism | news report

Tuesday September 14, 2010 06:46

by Ciaron O'Reilly/Plowshares

When I left Australia in May 2010, the OZ military fatalities in Afghanistan stood at 11 over the previous 9 years. They have now doubled in the last few months including the death of an Irish born man from Carlow serving with the Australian SAS. Australian fatlities.....
http://www.icasualties.org/oef/Nationality.aspx?hndQry=...ralia

Also a potential fracture is evident in the dragged out inquiry into the Australian military killing Afghani children. See below....

"THE Director of Military Prosecutions wants to take the unprecedented step of charging several Defence Force commandos with the deaths of five children during a raid in Afghanistan last year.
While the Director of Military Prosecutions, Brigadier Lyn McDade, has not made her final decision, the prospect of charges has infuriated senior officers, with the Chief of Army, Lieutenant-General Ken Gillespie, and other commanders expressing concern in writing.
Some in the Defence hierarchy are concerned it will further erode public support for the war and undermine the way soldiers operate in Afghanistan.
Continued.....

http://www.smh.com.au/world/diggers-face-likely-charges....html

I grew up on the back of Enoggera/Gallipoli Barracks during the Vietnam War when young men were being shipped off to kill and die for the USA in south east Asia.

In WW1 my mother had three uncles shipped through the barracks to the "war to end all wars". It was a time when the Australian military were more accurately named the "Australian Imperial Forces". They are now branded the Australian Defense Forces and servicing American rather than British imperialism.

Whenever I am based in Brisbane along with the Catholic Worker network we have been able to maintain a weekly anti-war vigil outside the Barracks. Our interactions with soldeirs departing and returning from Iraq and Afghanistran have been varied and interesting. As with civil society in other parts of the imperial heartland, Australians remain largely disengaged nine years into this war on Afghanistan. There is no visible support for the war, there is no visible opposition...ther is just the escalating war. The politicians spouting their sentimental shite whenever a young soldier, they have sent to kill and be killed, dies.

In the last few weeks a number of the soldiers based at the Enoggera/Gallipoli barracks have been killed in Afghanistan.

A recent positive development was this demonstration by Australian military veterans at the gates of the barracks. See report and vid....
http://stand-fast.webs.com/news.htm

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OZ PM Vows to Track Down Digger's Killer - look no further than the mirror Gillard!

by try the mirror

Tue May 31, 2011 07:58

OZ PM Vows to Track Down Digger's Killer - look no further than the mirror Gillard

The Australian Digger has been identified as Lance Corporal Andrew Gordon Jones.

PM vows to track down digger's killer

Prime Minister Julia Gillard has vowed to make "very determined" efforts to track down an Afghan National Army soldier who shot and killed an Australian digger.

She described as "shocking and disturbing" an incident in Afghanistan on Monday in which the Australian soldier was shot numerous times by his Afghan comrade while both were on guard duty.

A shaken Australian Defence Force chief Angus Houston revealed details of the incident earlier on Tuesday.
article continued.....
http://au.news.yahoo.com/a/-/newshome/9548417/pm-vows-t...ller/

War Apologist General Peter Cosgrove appointed the New Chancellor of Australian Catholic University

by Jimmy D

Wed Nov 24, 2010 05:01

It was announced today that Iraq war apologist General Peter Cosgrove has been appointed the new chancellor of Australian Catholic University.

http://www.cathnews.com/article.aspx?aeid=24281#hys

This is an interesting development considering that Cosgrove, former head of the Australian Defence Forces (ADF) during the Howard era, would have been well aware of warnings of a humanitarian disaster and the non-existence of Iraq's link to terrorism or any arsenal of WMDs by experts like Britain's Dr David Kelly, UN arms inspector Scott Ritter and Australia's own intelligence expert, Andrew Wilkie.
http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/s804540.htm

Cosgrove, a Catholic, would also have been aware of warnings by Pope John Paul II that war with Iraq was "a defeat for humanity which could not be morally or legally justified."
http://www.cjd.org/paper/jp2war.html

The pope said the U.N. charter and international law "remind us war cannot be decided upon, even when it is a matter of ensuring the common good, except as the last option and in accordance with very strict conditions, without ignoring the consequences for the civilian population both during and after the military options."
http://www.americancatholic.org/news/JustWar/iraq/papal...t.asp

Yet, Cosgrove ignored the leaders of his own Church and chose to follow the leaders of the western military-industrial complex into a war which ignored international law and turned Iraq into a humanitarian disaster which would only serve to promote anti-western hatred and terrorism. Why then has Cardinal George Pell and the ACU decided to appoint a war apologist like Cosgrove to such a prestigious position in the Australian Catholic Church?

OZ SAS Training Afghan Warlords Men in Australia

by OZ SAS

Sat Oct 30, 2010 06:00

OZ SAS Training Afghan Warlords Men in Australia

http://www.smh.com.au/world/military-chief-defends-warl....html

distinct whiff

by opus diablos - the regressive hypocrite party

Tue Oct 19, 2010 10:57

..of the nineteenth century white man's burden off that . '...troubled country..', 'mission..and sacrafice...'.

Before Oz sorts out such troubled countries they should consider addressing the troubles of their own Aboriginal peoples, or if they really give a shit about the troubles of the Afghan people (rather than their share of the estimated trillion in minerals under Afghan soil) they might consider allowing refugees from that US/coalition-of-the-wilful troubled country into Australia, instead of ambushing the coffin ships offshore and redirecting them to bribed-into-compliance territories under its hegemony so they are well out of range of Aussie media when their incarcerated conditions burst at the seams. Ditto for Iraqi refugees.

Nor do I forget that that because of our provision of air facilities for these idiotic adventures Ireland has incurred responsibility for refugees from the region.

Is it not yankee policy that if you break it you own it?Throw Pakistan into the basket and get on the queue for Iran.

First debate in Australian Parliament after 10 Years of War in Afghanistan

by CM

Tue Oct 19, 2010 08:47

THE father of a soldier killed in Afghanistan and the partner of another who has just arrived in Oruzgan Province have appealed for a deeper understanding of what our troops are doing in the troubled country.

As the first debate on the war kicks off in Federal Parliament today, Gary Bewes and Taryn McGowan say they hope it paves the way for a greater public appreciation of the Afghanistan mission and the sacrifices involved.

Mr Bewes, whose son Nathan from the Brisbane-based 6th Battalion became the 17th Australian to die in the conflict back in July, said he hoped the politicians were not pressured into pulling out of Afghanistan in the short-term.

Article continued......
http://www.couriermail.com.au/news/national/afghanistan...07759

Australian Special Ops Soldiers Charged with Manslaughter of Children in Afghanistan

by SMH

Mon Sep 27, 2010 08:14

Australian Special Ops Soldiers Charged with Manslaughter of Children in Afghanistan

Two Australian soldiers have been charged with manslaughter following the deaths of five children in Afghanistan last year, the Director of Military Prosecutions says.

"The accused persons will be charged with various service offences, including manslaughter, dangerous conduct, failing to comply with a lawful general order and prejudicial conduct," the director said in a statement.

Article continued.......

http://www.smh.com.au/national/special-forces-soldiers-....html

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Fractures and Dissent in Relation to Australian War on Afghanistan

Comments (6 of 6)