NEW
WAR BREWING IN MIDDLE EAST – AUSTRALIA INVOLVED
Saudi and Israeli leaders, backed and
supported by the US, are concocting a war against Iran and their allies,
Hezbollah/Lebanon. Syria, Qatar, Turkey, and Russia may well be drawn in by
their own alliances. The
ultra-conservative Islamist monarchy of Saudi Arabia, and the
ultra-conservative Zionist and apartheid state of Israel, are joined in an
unholy alliance because “the enemy of my enemy is my friend”.
Now that Islamic State and Al Qaeda (aided by the Saudis
and Israelis) have been effectively defeated
in Syria and Iraq, both Crown Prince (and effective ruler) Salman and PM
Netanyahu are obsessed with Iran's growing influence in the region.
AUSTRALIA'S ROLE
You might think Australia has no possible shadow of an
excuse for involvement, but that forgets the terms of the so-called US alliance
– 'you go where we need political cover, in return we might support you in some possible future
conflicts'. That's what brought Australia to the Iraq invasion, to bombing
missions in Syria – and to so many other wars before that.
Salman in 2015 started the bloody and
destructive but so-far unsuccessful war against Yemen (one of the poorest
countries in the world) for empire-building reasons, both his own aspiring
regional one, and the US global one. Despite its poverty, Yemen is very
strategically significant, placed as it is at the mouth of the Red Sea –
entrance to the Suez canal. The Australian Navy has just conducted a training
exercise with the Saudis, not far from where they are blockading food and other
supplies to a starving Yemen.
"I think it is disturbing to hear that the ADF is
training a navy that is involved in this blockade," Elaine Pearson,
Director of Human Rights Watch in Australia, said. "We know that the
Saudi-led coalition has been arbitrarily delaying and diverting ships carrying
lifesaving goods to Yemen, and humanitarian assistance is clearly desperately
needed right now."
Some
weeks ago, Defence Industry Minister Christopher Pyne was also spruiking arms sales to the Saudis. The
Yemen war creates their most pressing need for arms. So Australia's ethics-free refugee policy
also applies to military sales.
Our
allies-by-proxy are amongst the worst human-rights violators in the world.
Israel's apartheid treatment of the
Palestinians, illegal settlements in the West bank, and murderous bombardment
of the Gaza Strip are well-known.
In 2016 the Saudi-led coalition was
added to the UN Secretary-General's “list of shame” for children in armed
conflict for its role in killing and maiming children and attacking schools and
hospitals in Yemen.
Domestically, non-lethal crimes including “adultery”, armed robbery, “apostasy”,
drug-related offences, rape, “witchcraft” and “sorcery” are often
punished by execution in Saudi Arabia.
Recently Crown Prince Salman has been posing as a moderate, and puff pieces in
Australian and other western media push this line. But apart from allowing
women to drive, very little has actually changed.
CONCLUSION
The growing coordination between Saudi
Arabia and Israel for triggering a desired war in the Middle East was revealed
in early November when Israeli Channel 10 published a leaked diplomatic cable
sent to their missions abroad to do everything possible to ramp up pressure
against Hezbollah and Iran, and support the Saudis.
This, then is a real and urgent threat – and all comes because
of our one-sided relationship with the US. We need an independent foreign
policy that allows Australia to stand on it's own two feet – and not be
anyone's deputy sheriff.
To
promote this and other peaceful alternatives, a new organisation has been set
up in Adelaide -
Independent and
Peaceful Australia Network (SA)
IPAN (SA) can be contacted through the
Convenor, Stephen Darley, on 73298542, or stoifan@adam.com.au; or the Secretary,
Ruth Russell, on 0404629764
-
affiliated
to the national peace coalition, IPAN. If you want to learn more about IPAN,
their website is:
No comments:
Post a Comment