The Rise of Gutlessness
July 14th 2008 23:48
Since when have Australian’s been such gutless wonders?
I have this image of the Australian spirit in my head, I guess it’s been indoctrinated into all of us that have grown up here as part of the thing that has helped the country forge an identity for itself. We’ve always been told that we are a nation of people who stand by their mates, fight for what’s right and stick up for the underdog when he or she can’t stand up for themselves. As far as national identities go, it’s a pretty good one. So why is it that the Federal Government are proving yet again that they don’t understand what the Australian spirit really means.
I think if Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was on the battlefields of Gallipoli in 1915 he would have knocked over Simpson and rode his donkey to safety. Brief recap: Australia have held back deployed the nine military officials they planned on sending to aid the genocide ravaged region of Darfur, in Sudan, because they feel the situation on the ground is too volatile. Have they been asleep? A ‘volatile’ situation is the whole reason they need to send people there in the first place! The Sudanese Government, along with a janjaweed Arab militia have been systematically murdering and displacing the African tribes of the region. The Sudanese Government says 10,000 have died. The UN estimates the combined effect of murder, famine and drought caused by the scorched earth policies of Sudan has led to 300,000 deaths. This has been going on since 2003. That’s a pretty ongoing volatile situation.
But no. We wont send our nine military officers there to lend a hand because it could be too dangerous. And now the International Criminal Court has called for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for crimes against humanity and genocide, despite the fact it has no real jurisdiction with uncooperative nations. But even with this symbolic gesture, Stephen Smith has a problem.
“We are very concerned that the processes of the court this time will be used by some to see an even worse deterioration of circumstances there," he says, forgetting the fact that doing nothing hasn’t exactly gone well for the 300,000 dead and millions displaced by the conflict.
Smith also says its not his role to prejudge or presume guilt. Right. It’s not his role to presume guilt on a regime that has been committing atrocities for five years and even before the ethnic cleansing had proven their character by harbouring and nurturing a pre-9/11 Osama bin Laden. Even if the Sudanese Government estimates of 10,000 deaths is correct, that is still cause enough for intervention. So let’s get this straight: the Sudanese Government admit guilt to a degree, the International Criminal Court say that there is cause to arrest the President for war crimes, the UN estimates a catastrophic number of deaths and displacements. But Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith doesn’t feel it’s his place to judge.
Holding back nine of our military officers already promised to the region because of a volatile situation is purely gutless. Hundreds of thousands of people are dying due to the practices of a disturbed regime. But risking nine military officers lives trying to help is unacceptable collateral damage. To say that is to denigrate the Australian spirit of helping the underdog. If other countries keep following the same weak path the Sudan will implode upon itself, and the ripple effects will destabilise the rest of the African region with war and further strains on resources in neighbouring countries as displaced Sudanese tribes clash with the locals over resources and land.
The Rudd Government is supposed to be one who supports human rights. But first they don’t take their “special” relationship with China to use as a platform to discuss human rights abuses. And now they won’t lift a finger to help Darfur. The height of gutlessness.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so ashamed. Aren’t we the same nation who stood firm on the beaches of Turkey and trudged through the Kokoda Track in pursuit of a greater ideal?
I have this image of the Australian spirit in my head, I guess it’s been indoctrinated into all of us that have grown up here as part of the thing that has helped the country forge an identity for itself. We’ve always been told that we are a nation of people who stand by their mates, fight for what’s right and stick up for the underdog when he or she can’t stand up for themselves. As far as national identities go, it’s a pretty good one. So why is it that the Federal Government are proving yet again that they don’t understand what the Australian spirit really means.
I think if Foreign Minister Stephen Smith was on the battlefields of Gallipoli in 1915 he would have knocked over Simpson and rode his donkey to safety. Brief recap: Australia have held back deployed the nine military officials they planned on sending to aid the genocide ravaged region of Darfur, in Sudan, because they feel the situation on the ground is too volatile. Have they been asleep? A ‘volatile’ situation is the whole reason they need to send people there in the first place! The Sudanese Government, along with a janjaweed Arab militia have been systematically murdering and displacing the African tribes of the region. The Sudanese Government says 10,000 have died. The UN estimates the combined effect of murder, famine and drought caused by the scorched earth policies of Sudan has led to 300,000 deaths. This has been going on since 2003. That’s a pretty ongoing volatile situation.
But no. We wont send our nine military officers there to lend a hand because it could be too dangerous. And now the International Criminal Court has called for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for crimes against humanity and genocide, despite the fact it has no real jurisdiction with uncooperative nations. But even with this symbolic gesture, Stephen Smith has a problem.
“We are very concerned that the processes of the court this time will be used by some to see an even worse deterioration of circumstances there," he says, forgetting the fact that doing nothing hasn’t exactly gone well for the 300,000 dead and millions displaced by the conflict.
Smith also says its not his role to prejudge or presume guilt. Right. It’s not his role to presume guilt on a regime that has been committing atrocities for five years and even before the ethnic cleansing had proven their character by harbouring and nurturing a pre-9/11 Osama bin Laden. Even if the Sudanese Government estimates of 10,000 deaths is correct, that is still cause enough for intervention. So let’s get this straight: the Sudanese Government admit guilt to a degree, the International Criminal Court say that there is cause to arrest the President for war crimes, the UN estimates a catastrophic number of deaths and displacements. But Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith doesn’t feel it’s his place to judge.
Holding back nine of our military officers already promised to the region because of a volatile situation is purely gutless. Hundreds of thousands of people are dying due to the practices of a disturbed regime. But risking nine military officers lives trying to help is unacceptable collateral damage. To say that is to denigrate the Australian spirit of helping the underdog. If other countries keep following the same weak path the Sudan will implode upon itself, and the ripple effects will destabilise the rest of the African region with war and further strains on resources in neighbouring countries as displaced Sudanese tribes clash with the locals over resources and land.
The Rudd Government is supposed to be one who supports human rights. But first they don’t take their “special” relationship with China to use as a platform to discuss human rights abuses. And now they won’t lift a finger to help Darfur. The height of gutlessness.
I don’t think I’ve ever been so ashamed. Aren’t we the same nation who stood firm on the beaches of Turkey and trudged through the Kokoda Track in pursuit of a greater ideal?
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