Date: Fri, 28 Sep 2001 11:22:04 +1000
To: <[log in to unmask]>
From: Phil Graham <[log in to unmask]>
Subject: "Don't mention the war"
By Brigadier Adrian D'Hage *
In Sydney Morning Herald, September 28, 2001
The US is at war. It may not seem like it, but in amongst the grand
finals=
=20
and the Spring weather, Australia is also at war. Four out of five=20
Australians are solidly behind the Prime Minister's declaration. In
the=20
meantime the signals coming out of Washington are on the one hand
confusing=
=20
and on the other unequivocal.
On Wednesday, the US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld declared there
would=
=20
be no marked beginning. No massive strikes. Then why are there no
less=20
than four Carrier Groups, complete with destroyer and submarine
escorts=20
massing in the Mediterranean and the Persian Gulf? Was this designed
to=20
frighten the Taliban into submission? If so, it is unlikely to=20
succeed. Or was it designed for domestic consumption? The
understandable=
=20
need to do something. In reality there is caution. There has been a=20
realization within the Pentagon that this nut will not be easy to=20
crack. Air strikes will not succeed unless they are directed against=20
specific targets by Special Forces. They are there already.
Outstanding=20
young men. Superbly trained. Silently observing. The mountain goats
will=20
be grateful for that. But if there are 300,000 fanatics participating
in a=
=20
holy Jihad and a passport to heaven, it will take much more than
Special=20
Forces. And in another few weeks, the dust storms will be replaced
by=20
driving snow. At least the land mines will be covered.
In contrast to his Defense Secretary, the President has been=20
unequivocal. We are part of their grief, but the rhetoric is=20
disturbing. 'We will not stop until the last terrorist group of
global=20
reach is eliminated.' It is simply not deliverable. And there is a
danger=
=20
of escalation into global conflict in a form the world has never=20
experienced. The initial description of a 'Christian Crusade' has not=20
helped. Any war is ugly. Religious wars are horrendous. This
campaign=20
could run for years in several different countries. Other cells may
be=20
identified in Egypt or the Sudan. Without any debate, the youth of
this=20
country, many still in school, are signed up to fight. Four out of
five=20
Australians support this.
So in our haste to fight alongside Uncle Sam, we Australians need to
know=20
what we've signed up for. The 'WHY' of this incredible anger toward the
US=
=20
and now potentially, Australia. Perhaps now is not the time, yet
nowhere=20
in the President's speech is the slightest hint the US can see things
from=
=20
the other side of the fence. The President has asked why do they hate
us?=
=20
'They hate what we see right here in this chamber,' he said. 'A=20
democratically elected Government=85 they hate our freedoms.'
Wrong.
Even moderate Arab and Islamic communities are in despair over US=20
policies. The entire casualty list of lower Manhattan is replicated
_every=
=20
month_ in Iraq as a result of US sponsored sanctions. Mainly women
and=20
children. Saddam and his murderous henchmen, previously sponsored by
the=20
US, eat well. And a little to the west, 800,000 Palestinians have
lost=20
their homes, their sons, their daughters. We would do well to remember
that=
=20
'a man without a country is a man without dignity.'
The Israeli's too have suffered dreadfully, but their PR machine is=20
better. When the hard-line general - now Prime Minister - Ariel Sharon
was=
=20
Defense Minister, hundreds of Palestinian women and children were
massacred=
=20
at Sabra and Shatilla. He was found by the Kahan Commission to bear=20
'personal responsibility.' It matters not, the US support the
hard-line.=20
As a result, we now support what has accurately been described by
Noam=20
Chomsky as 'What the US Says Goes'.
War. I have had the great privilege of serving with the young men and
women=
=20
of the ADF and whatever the Government of the day asks - they will=20
deliver. But even an untrained eye can spot an exhausted engineer on=20
Nauru. Chiefs of Staff - take note. There are limits to their=20
loyalty. Keep giving them impossible tasks driven by political=20
stubbornness and they will vote with their feet - if they haven't=20
already. Conscription is not out of the question. And there is an=20
extraordinary irony in this frenzied construction. On the one hand we=20
support the barbed wire and Howard's Armada. On the other we
strongly=20
support a war that is about to produce another 2 million desperate=20
Afghans. Howard's Armada is costing $3 million a day. There will be
value=
=20
for money.
I may be a slow learner, but as a soldier of some 37 years, I can say
with=
=20
some authority that war should be an absolute last resort. It is time
to=20
take a step back. It is time for a change of policy. Engage these=20
desperate communities. Construct schools and hospitals. Instead of=20
spending 200 thousand million dollars trying to get two rockets to=20
intersect in the stratosphere - when terrorists can wipe you out at
300=20
feet - put it into food, training and agriculture. Start a dialogue.
Find=
=20
out 'why'. But whatever you do in this surreal pre-election period -=20
'don't mention the war.'
* Brigadier Adrian D'Hag=E9 headed the planning for Defence Security for
the=
=20
Olympics. He was awarded the Military Cross for service in Vietnam and
the=
=20
Order of Australia. He holds degrees in Science and Theology and a=20
Bookmaker's Clerk's license. He is currently writing a novel.=20
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