How time flies. Only a few months ago Tasmania’s former Governor, Richard Butler, came under attack for his behaviour as the Vice Regal representative.
One of his earliest supposed faux pas was to comment on the US-led attack on Iraq based on his experience as the UN weapon inspector. These comments were made in answer to questions from a group he was addressing.
What a surprise to find Mr Cox, the all new safe alternative to the boy from Bondi, also commenting on the ethics of Australia’s leading ally in Iraq.
The treatment of prisoners in Abu Grahib was clearly torture and on this most recent ANZAC day Cox condemned it in no uncertain terms and called on all Australians to work toward its end.
Only a small leap of faith is needed to draw the conclusion that a person who had spent their life in the search for evidenced truth in his decision making has not been overly impressed by the words from Bush and Cheney, Blair and Straw or Howard and Downer, all in denial about their knowledge of what occurred in the name of freedom, various disemblages attempting to disguise their failure.
Lies disguised by the word intelligence
It is interesting that the voters in all three countries appear to care little that their leaders took them to war on a collection of lies disguised by the word intelligence, some taking the modern course of the politician and moving toward the congenital or serial practitioner.
This former Justice may not move further along the same path that placed Butler in conflict with the Hobart Establishment, and led to the lessening of the respect for the office through the behavior of many of the parties that make up Tasmania’s civil society, not least the Fourth Estate.
He is to be congratulated for attempting to express in modern terms the values for which the ultimate sacrifice is made to defeat any regime to whom torture is deemed an acceptable expedient. May we hear more on the moral values we should strive to uphold from this source.
Much has been missing from national life since the retirement of Bill Deane.
phill Parsons remembers the propaganda made against assorted post World War 2 enemies wherever accusations could be made, provable or not, and the deafening silence whenever torture and other abuses of human rights were used in furthering the interests of the US empire.
