Friday 18 October 2002

Bali / Australia / Terror

This man is the conscience which the World seems to be lacking at the moment, we should listen carefully to what he has to say. On a side note, it's interesting how he's appearing more and more in the mainstream press. Maybe people are finally starting to listen to him properly, we can but hope.

by John Pilger

For 40 years, Australian governments have colluded with state terrorism in Indonesia. Now, the Bali outrage allows John Howard to distract attention from his hypocrisy

The Australian prime minister, John Howard, says the atrocity on the island of Bali is "proof" that "the war against terrorism must go on with unrelenting vigour and with an unconditional commitment". What he means is that he will continue to perform his holier-than-Blair role as George W Bush's most devoted, if not universally recognised, foreign gang member. The Australian military is, in effect, an extension of the Pentagon.

Australian ships operate with the American fleet in the Gulf, enforcing an embargo against Iraq which, according to the United Nations Children's Fund, has led to the unnecessary deaths of more than 600,000 Iraqi children. In Indonesia, Australians, together with their American counterparts, have secretly resumed training the Indonesian military, which, in the world cup of terrorism, is the undisputed champion.

Full story...