Our Johnny Takes Up The War On Terror Against Those Pesky Solomon Islanders!!

The War on Terror continues.  Today (21 July 2003) we have sent yet another contingent of troops to the South Pacific nation of the Solomon Islands to act as Peacekeepers for a country under the oppression of a rebellious militant.  A noble act if you consider our previous roles in traditional Peacekeeping, including our most recent and leading role in East Timor.

As the largest and most prosperous nation in the Oceania region, we have always and correctly so taken the lead in international affairs concerning our quiet corner of the world.  But today I feel different because today our involvement in the Solomon Islands issue has been tainted by our increasingly hard nosed (dare I say Fascist) government and the sycophantic media.

What should have been a quiet and hopefully event free deployment has been today used by Prime Minister Howard’s government as another opportunity to push their obnoxious views upon the people of Australia.

Our Johnny described today’s deployment as a further step in “The War On Terror” and necessary “to continue to protect the people of our nation”.  Media headlines today ran with “Shoot to Kill – Government Authorises Full Force”.  Am I alone in thinking that this is wrong?

What about the poor people of the Solomon’s?  What about the facts Mr Howard?  What about telling it like it really is?  Instead he is using this issue as a political football to keep the nations’ momentum up in this so called War On Terror.

The truth is that the Solomon’s have been forcibly taken over by a well armed (by local standards) thug who has usurped the democratic right of the people simply for his personal gain.  He appears to use violence indiscriminately and has the local populace cowed under his rule.

Therefore, I feel happy that we contribute by sending a Peacekeeping force, which in this case is a mixture of military and Australian police but what I object to is having the unfortunate state of the Solomon’s used by our government as a point scoring exercise to justify their disgraceful contribution to the Iraq debacle.

Where is the link between Al-Qaeda, Saddam Hussein, Osama bin-Laden or even Amrozi the Bali Bomber to the Solomons?  Why is this two-bit thug in a remote island nation in the Pacific suddenly a threat to “the people of Australia”?

This of course is rubbish but the issue is that the media push this line as a statement of fact and therefore coupled with the Australian Labor parties complete lack of political voice, the issue is left to hang out there in the ether unchallenged.

When we look back on these years (presuming that the North Koreans don’t do us in in the short term), I hope John Howard will be seen as the political atrocity that he is.  A man who has led this country from a position of burgeoning prosperity to a xenophobic, militaristic state that rejects the views and cultures of others whilst embracing the most obnoxious and vile culture of all – the United States.

Watch out people, their could be a Solomon Islander invasion at anytime!  Thank God for our Johnny!

RELATED READING

http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,6785071%255E421,00.html

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/07/20/1058639661876.html