This morning, I attended the Dawn Service as I like to do each Anzac Day. On this occasion, I decided against going to the Shrine of Remembrance and headed to a local event at Hampton RSL.
As is usual, when listening to the stories of gallantry and sacrifice, I begin to contemplate war, the horrors of brutal conflict, and the people responsible for sending young soldiers into harm’s way.
It can be funny to take notice of where the mind can wander. Even more so when you feel a great deal of care in your heart.
I began to contemplate the nature of murder. When a person intentionally kills another, it is murder. War provides some dissolution to the definition, but as we have seen in recent years, soldiers are being taken to task and even charged with the deaths that occurred resulting from their actions in war zones.
When a person aids another in some way to support their act of murder, they are an accessory either before or after the fact.
For example, if I drive you to the venue where you then commit a murder, I am an accessory before the fact. If I know what you are about to do, my crime is almost as grievous as yours.
So how does this play out in the theatre of war? I am no legal expert, but I do carry the mind of a reasonable man, which is the foundation of Common Law.
Australian defense forces have arguably only ever once been called upon to defend our own country. During the Second World War, when the Japanese set about seizing this great southern land, Australian forces fought doggedly in Southeast Asia, New Guinea and in Darwin.
So, I guess I continue to ask the question why Australian forces have been dragged into so many conflicts. For sure, defending England goes with little question as we were and still are a part of the Commonwealth. But why Vietnam, or Iraq or Afghanistan?
Consider the following casualty numbers:
Afghanistan: 41 Dead and 261 Wounded
Iraq: 4 Dead, no data found regarding injuries.
Vietnam: 523 Dead 3129 Wounded
Korea: 356 Dead 1216 Wounded
Other Conflicts besides WW1 and WW2: 769 Dead
Between 1997 and 2021, 1,677 military veterans took their own lives. One can only guess the number who still struggle with mental and emotional trauma from their military experience. Even those who perhaps never saw violent conflict still live with scars of the terror they felt daily whilst stationed in an active war zone.
If we then take a moment to consider the devastation to families and loved ones of each of the nearly 8,000 directly affected personnel, and the thousands of others who still struggle, the cost of these conflicts is huge.
We do not have to be conspiracy theorists to suspect the motivations for many of these wars were not humanitarian. On January 17th, 1961, just 2 days before my first birthday, President Dwight D. Eisenhower delivered his farewell address. During his speech he stated:
“A vital element in keeping the peace is our military establishment. Our arms must be might, ready for instant action, so that no potential aggressor may be tempted to risk his own destruction. . . . American makers of plowshares could, with time and as required, make swords as well. But now we can no longer risk emergency improvisation of national defense; we have been compelled to create a permanent armaments industry of vast proportions. . . . This conjunction of an immense military establishment and a large arms industry is new in the American experience. . . .Yet we must not fail to comprehend its grave implications. . . . In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex. The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist.”
Military companies cannot sell their products without wars, or the fear of impending wars. Too often, history tells us, wars have been created on falsehoods and countries like Australia have sent their sons to fight someone else’s war. The “Weapons of Mass Destruction” claims that commenced the second Iraq war are a fine example.
Just this week, American journalist, and political commentator, Tucker Carlson, revealed what many have suspected. The US intelligence agencies and the committees that support their activities have got “dirt” on enough people, including politicians that allow them to do as they please. They use fear and blackmail to control congress. Hence, they use fear and blackmail to oppose the will of the people.
This could make one gasp with horror, but it is also easy to see how it can happen. Politics is a dirty game. It is no longer the realm of the highest levels of service. It seems so many people enter politics with good intentions and finish up in the gutter.
And the stark reality is that there is no need to trap every politician, just enough of them.
How many decisions are being made at government level because a politician is compromised? Is it reasonable to assume that a mere political donation is enough to create compromise? Perhaps, but I do not think it should be. However, embarrassing photographs or videos are something altogether different. Is your local member compromised in some way?
Citizens in a democracy should be defiant. They should demand absolute integrity from their political leaders. They should expect transparency from all politicians and bureaucrats. They can take all this a lot more seriously than they do.
Here is a brutal bottom line for you to consider. A Politician who sends a soldier to an unjust war, is literally an accessory before the fact if that soldier kills someone. If the soldier dies, they are guilty of placing the soldier in harm’s way, and probably an accessory to their murder.
I was shocked to learn that more civilians died in other countries under Barak Obama’s Presidency than any other US President since WW2. US Operations in Yemen and Afghanistan saw the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people.
Our politicians have blood on their hands. I knew one such politician, a member of the Federal Cabinet for many years, just as he commenced his time in politics. He was a vibrant and engaging young man. I met him and spoke to him not long after he left office, some 20 years later, and it was as if he had lost his soul. I asked quietly to myself as he walked away, “What did you do?”
There are so many things happening at government level in Australia and in other countries that are, at best, questionable. Shouldn’t we be in the streets?
We know that the same companies that donate money to political parties, and the same companies that create the machines of war, all share commonality of ownership. We can no longer trust the mainstream media to ask the “hard questions”. The Laurie Oakes’ of the world are a distant memory.
Are you up for getting your friends together and applying pressure to your local members and your local candidates? They need us to look them in the eye and let them know we are watching every move. They need to know that they need the people more than they need their benefactors.
Ask your friends, family and work mates, “Do you trust your government?” If they say yes, then ask them why. Keep asking why so you and they get a chance to explore more deeply. And if they say no, ask them what they would like to do about it.
“If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor.” Desmond Tutu
Superb article again JT,and a mirror image of my emotions when attending my Dawn Service. My prayers continue for your writing skills to be sustained and retained. Let's ALL find a way to engage with our politicians, NOW.