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Motion
Against Australian Involvement in War Tuesday,
25 March 2003 Speech
by: Mr
Mayor and fellow councillors, thank you for the opportunity to put this motion
to our council. While
you could argue that war is not necessarily a council issue, I would disagree.
If Australia is at war, then it is a matter for everyone, every man,
woman, child because this war is waged in the name of every Australian. In
fact, we are not the first council to debate a motion against war; many councils
from Hornsby to Marrickville have had this debate because they too feel strongly
about this issue. This
issue of course, is even more relevant to us because Fairfield is the home of
many Australians from an Arabic-speaking background as well as the most number
of Australians from a Vietnamese background than anywhere else in Australia,
most of whom are refugees of War. Mr
Mayor, by the end of tomorrow the US “coalition of the willing” will have
been at war with Iraq for a week. And
the case for going to war is flimsy at best case and morally pathetic at worst. I
can’t say I’m 100% sure of the case which President Bush has pushed for the
need for war. I’m
sure we all remember, initially, it was about alleged links with Al-Qaeda and
the importance of stamping out terrorism post September 11. Let
me say for the record the events of September 11 were horrific and the greatest
act of evil I’ve witnessed in my lifetime.
The
US government tried to use the anger that Americans and the world still felt
about this tragic event to justify a war with Iraq. But
the fact of the matter is, after months of allegations of links between Sadam
Hussein and Al-Qaeda, the US could not come up with any concrete evidence.
In fact, more terrorists involved in September 11 came from Saudi Arabia,
a US ally. And
so the reason for war changed. It
then moved to Iraq’s alleged possession of weapons of mass destruction and the
potential that it may fall into the hands of terrorist organizations in general,
including Al-Qaeda. And the
alleged record of the Iraqi regime in supporting terrorists or the potential for
them to become terrorists. In
the PM’s address to the press club on 13 March to justify his support of the
US position, Mr Howard said: Iraq
has a long history too of training and supporting terrorist groups, of the
practice of paying a sum to every Palestinian family whose member embarks upon a
suicide bombing mission into Israel. So the long history of
Iraq's relationship with terrorist groups and the disposition to aggression of
the completely reckless kind, conditions and reinforces our views. And
President Bush, in his speech of 18 March, exactly a week ago, in which he
delivered a 48 hour ultimatum to Saddam Hussein and his sons to go into exile or
face war, military action was justified by these words: Yet, the only way
to reduce the harm and duration of war is to apply the full force and might of
our military, and we are prepared to do so. If Saddam Hussein attempts to cling
to power, he will remain a deadly foe until the end. In desperation, he and
terrorists groups might try to conduct terrorist operations against the American
people and our friends. These attacks are not inevitable. They are, however,
possible. And this very fact underscores the reason we cannot live under the
threat of blackmail. The terrorist threat to America and the world will be
diminished the moment that Saddam Hussein is disarmed. But
Mr Mayor is this justification enough for going to war? North
Korea has weapons of mass destruction and we’re not bombing their capital
every night. That’s
why despite America’s best attempt to lobby and bully the UN, America could
not get the numbers in the UN Security Council to back a second resolution
co-sponsored by the US, Britain and Spain for the UN to authorise military
action against Iraq. And
let’s be clear about this, the reason the US did not put the resolution to a
vote is because it did not have the numbers – the red herring about France
threatening to exercise Veto was irrelevant, because it would not have the
numbers to pass this second resolution in the first place. So,
having gone to the UN and been knocked back, the US decides to go it alone –
with it’s coalition of the willing. Despite
America’s rhetoric of some 40 countries signed up to the coalition of the
willing, the reality remains, only two countries have committed a significant
number of troups to the war against Iraq. As
we all know, Australia and Britain are those two countries. I
cannot speculate about the British Labor government’s reasons for joining this
coalition. But tonight, my motion
seeks to condemn the Howard government for committing Australia to a War against
Iraq, a war, which tonight, I want to state for the record, is “not in my
name”. I
know the Australian people do not believe there is enough reason to commit our
men and women to war. That’s
why hundreds of thousands of Australians marched against the war. That’s
why 263 of them have signed a petition, which I will table today which says: I
am opposed to a War with IRAQ because:
And
I think it’s important to look at the consequence of a War. War
means death. Estimates
of the casualty from the last Gulf War ranged between 50,000-100,000 deaths,
including 143 Americans soldiers. And
during the Vietnam War, which ended in 1975, the toll estimates were:
In
other words over 2 million people died. And
that war led to millions of refugees, of which I am one. It’s
not just the dead, it’s the injury and the psychological suffering.
Mr Mayor, the most vivid memory of my childhood was the bombing of the
presidential palace of the South Vietnamese government during the early months
of 1975. My
parents who come from the southern part of Vietnam still talk about the fear of
the machine gun fire from American planes during the day and hiding from the
communists at night. I
have lived through that and millions of other Vietnamese have been tortured by
those memories. I
don’t ever, ever want anyone else to go through that again. Mr
Mayor in introducing this motion, I have made it clear that the Iraqi regime is
both barbaric and undemocratic however, it is not the only one, and against the
enormous humanitarian cost, it does not justify going to War – especially
without UN backing. Mr
Mayor, just like the Vietnam War, I know that in another decade history will
judge the Howard government’s lapdog obedience to the US as a huge mistake. And
it will judge the Howard government and the supporters of the war cruelly and
justly. That’s
why today, I am introducing this motion. I
want to say it loudly and have it on the public record that the Howard
government’s participation in a US led, unilateral war against Iraq is
something, which is done “not in my name”. I
want the records to show that I object vehemently to the concept that we must
kill for peace, that the death of others will bring about security at home. That
I don’t believe no matter how sophisticated and well targeted the US bombs
are, innocent men, women and children will not die as a result of the daily
bombings. And
in moving this motion, I have made it clear that while the motion does not
support a war against Iraq, that Council expresses unequivocal support for the
Australian service men and women currently deployed in the Middle East – that
should never be in question. But
Mr Mayor and my fellow councillors, tonight there is an opportunity for this
council to go on record so that in years to come, when history judges the
decision to go to war to be the most tragic of mistakes, that we can look our
friends, our children, our neighbour and say: “That
war was not in my name” for
us to say: “I
was then, and now remain, still committed to peace”. My
fellow councillors, I would urge all of you to support this motion. Thank
you. |