Lest we forget the consequences, today we recall the great lie of ‘Weapons of Mass Destruction’ in Iraq which led to the smashing of that country and the slaughter of hundreds of thousand of innocent men, women and children.

Peace Rally – Address, 18 March 2023 

 

By John Lander

 

When the lie was revealed, our precious alliance with America was used as justification for joining the ‘Coalition of the Willing’, which ought to be called the ‘Coalition of the Killing’.

The coalition of the killing continued in Afghanistan for 20 years, based on the lie that Afghanistan was the fountainhead of Islamic terrorism around the world.

Note that the word “lie” sits at the heart of the word “Alliance”, which is itself a lie.

We are told that the ANZUS Alliance protects Australia.

The ANZUS Treaty does not guarantee US protection – it only commits America to provide Australia with the means to protect itself.

The Coalition of the Killing was formed under the pretext of the ANZUS Alliance.

Like some mutant strain of a pandemic virus, it has now morphed into AUKUS, to lie us into yet another unwinnable war.

The claim that this new war is to protect the Western ”rules-based order, which has served us so well”, is another lie.

The US has made it clear that the real objective is to “contain” China and suppress its development, so that America can remain top-dog in a dog eat dog world.

All developing countries (two thirds of humanity) are increasingly rejecting the vaunted “rules-based-order”, in favour of strengthening the United Nations system.

We are now being lied into another war, with far more devastating consequences than any previous conflict where we have stood “proudly by the side of America”.

The new great lie, which we have seen splashed across the pages and television screens of the Nine network, is that China is a military threat to Australia, because of its imminent attack on Taiwan, whose democracy Australia is obliged to protect.

It is a lie that Taiwan is a separate entity from China, it is a lie that China intends to seize it by force, and it is a lie that it has plans to do so within the next three years.

Taiwan has been a province of China for centuries longer than Australia has existed as a nation.

Australia, as well as most of the rest of the world, has legally endorsed that fact, by recognising the People’s Republic of China as the legitimate government of the whole of China’s sovereign territory.

China’s Taiwan policy has remained unchanged for more than fifty years – to protect its sovereign territory, using military force as a very last resort, against any attempt, internal or external, to remove Taiwan from its sovereign territory.

In his New Year address, President Xi Jinping reiterated the commitment to the peaceful, gradual reintegration of the Chines family on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. Some threat!

A further lie is that China is bent on aggression towards Australia.

China has not surrounded Australia with hundreds of military bases. As the US has done to China.

China does not conduct frequent, regular ‘Freedom of Navigation Operations’ in Australian waters. As the US and Australia do to China.

China does not conduct “Freedom of Overflight” operations in Australian skies. As the US and Australia do to China.

(Although, under the so-called “rules-based order” that Australia espouses, it would have the right to do all of that to us.)

China has not vowed to “increase the range and lethality of its high-end war fighting capability” to well beyond its shores, as Australia has done.

China has not threatened Australia with a nuclear strike.(Although Australian, American and even Chinese geopolitical analysts all agree that if Australia were to go to war against China, it would make itself a target.)

Prime Minister Albanese’s assertion in San Diego a few days ago that Australia does not allow permanent foreign bases on Australian soil is an obfuscation founded on the sophistry of ‘regular rotation’. In other words another lie.

The Force Posture Agreement Australia signed (under the auspices of the ANZUS Alliance) makes it absolutely clear that the US Indo-Pacific Command is permanently based in Darwin.

It makes clear that all areas in Australia where America pre-positions its military assets are under the exclusive control of the United States, thus making them American, not Australian bases.

If America succeeds in provoking China into war, US operations in that theatre will be launched, commanded and controlled from Australia, thus leaving us no choice but to be a major target.

Now that Richard Marles has declared that all US assets are “interchangeable” with the Australian Defence Force, the identity of the ADF can be used as a cloak by the US.

So America will be able to use its preferred option of conducting its military hostilities against China by proxy, as it has openly admitted it is doing against Russia in Ukraine right now. The US continues to manoeuvre Taiwan into being the trigger proxy.

Australia, Japan, the Philippines, and any other country the US can knit together into its “network of alliances” will be supporting proxies in this lethal theatre of the absurd. Australia is now on board the American war train, which is hurtling out of control down the track toward the abyss. Instead of shutting our eyes and enjoying the ride, we should all stand up and put on the brakes!!

 

Peace Rally in Melbourne on Saturday 18 March, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the invasion of Iraq.

Something Stirring – Postscript by Nick Deane

It is possible that the announcement about AUKUS, coming, as it did, just a few days before the 20thanniversary of the invasion of Iraq, has stirred a number of people into action. Many remember and resent the manner in which Australia was hoodwinked into joining the USA for the Iraq invasion. They hear echoes of the falsehoods spread then in the current discussion of the ‘China threat’ and the ‘necessity’ of nuclear submarines. It remains to be seen how this will develop.

Since the announcement of 14th March, there have been some small, spontaneous demonstrations (in Sydney, for example) and numerous events are planned for the coming weekend and next week. Some of these have been planned well in advance, taking advantage of the coincidence in the date.

The Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN), which keeps an eye on such developments, has listed six events, taking place in Melbourne, Sydney (Marrickville), Darwin, Hobart, and Canberra. There are active cells already in existence in all of these centres (and also Adelaide and Fremantle). The focus of their attention falls on AUKUS. Since his appearance at the National Press Club, the activists’ local hero is now Paul Keating. IPAN appears to be a key component in this activity. Without directing operations, it is providing the scaffolding upon which some meaningful opposition may eventually be built. IPAN conducted a ‘People’s Inquiry’ into defence-related matters during 2021. In November 2022 it issued its report “Charting Our Own Course” https://ipan.org.au/read-or-order-the-report-of-peoples-inquiry/.

Those who remember Iraq, who also wonder whether the nation is, once again, headed in the direction of war, may be sensing that this is the time for them to get onto their feet.

 

Saturday 18 March 1pm State Library, Melbourne Vic

“A call for Peace – Truth not war” rally

 

 

READ MORE:

https://johnmenadue.com/war-mongering-and-the-peace-rally/

 

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