Peace activists across the nation are united in their anger at the announcement that Australia will now join the US in bombing targets in Syria. The Independent Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN) is a network of peace groups with affiliates in every State and Territory. It has consistently opposed the use of military power to solve international problems and believes that Australia has lost its independence through too close an alliance with the USA.
Nick Deane, spokesman for IPAN says
“After more than a decade, it should be clear that military intervention in the Middle East has been an utter failure. It has achieved no worthwhile outcome in Iraq, instead reducing that once prosperous nation to destitution. Many respected observers attribute the growth of fundamentalist militarism to the large scale Western interventions in the Middle East over the past few decades. Intervention hasn’t worked and it isn’t working. It is time for us to admit this and seek new strategies. Why persist in repeating the patterns that we can all see to be failing?
Bombing targets within Syria is a major escalation of Australia’s military commitment. Significantly, once again, commitment is being ramped up without any debate in our Parliament. One back-bencher (Dan Tehan) floated the idea, and within weeks the government is following his suggestion.
Increasing our military mission in this way is blatant ‘mission creep’, whatever its proponents might say.
It will undoubtedly add to the chaos in Syria. It will mean the deaths of more civilians and probably increase in the numbers of refugees desperate to leave the region. This is not serving Australia’s best interests.
It is time the National Security Committee of Cabinet woke up to the realization that increased military activity adds fuel to the fire that is ISIS and worsens the refugee crisis the world is having to face.
If we genuinely want to live in a peaceful and independent Australia, we must end our proclivity for engaging in military action whenever it suits the interests of the USA.”
Nick Deane, Independent Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN)
