On the 20th anniversary of the war on Iraq, Australians flocked to rallies and meetings to voice their anger with the Albanese government joining the LNP coalition in the AUKUS agreement. To paraphrase former PM Paul Keating, the Albanese government has shackled Australia to the U.S. war machine.
The poignancy of the anniversary was remembered when millions turned out in 2003 against the Howard LNP government decision to join the U.K.and U.S. attack on Iraq which left hundreds of thousands of Iraqis dead, its infrastructure destroyed and turned into a fail state. Many consider Howard, Blair and Bush war criminals of the first order.
The Sydney peace meeting in Marrickville, attracted over a thousand people.
Via Zoom, Col. Lawrence Wilkerson, former chief of staff to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell described the relationship of Australia to the U.S.A. as that of a “lackey”. He reminded the audience that the U.S. since the end of World War 1 has insisted on its primacy as a world power and will not tolerate any rivals .
Former Foreign minister Bob Carr pinpointed 2015 as the date when Australian governments joined the U.S. chorus against China. He quoted sources in the U.S. that considered Australia weak and uncommitted to U.S. aims in Asia, despite being in lockstep with the U.S. in the middle east. The Murdoch press began the publicity campaign and LNP political figures Turdbull, Bishop and Morrison answered the call. The ALP got the shivers and fell into line. The anti-China campaign had begun.
The movement against the AUKUS agreement and for an independent Australia is building.
