Letters to my grandchildren (9)

Dear Chilliwops,

Sometimes the world seems crazy. If you read the newspapers – I am very selective about the newspapers I read but more about that later – they usually report negative news. Some newspapers emphasise local news and one has to search for anything of international significance. The exception is (again, negative) reporting on conflict between and within countries, sometimes racially motivated, sometimes based on religious or sectarian differences, but always about power and control.

It never ceases to amaze me that such conflict can exist. Australia is not immune from conflict although thankfully we haven’t experienced a great deal on our shores, except of course the military invasion of the land occupied by the original indigenous inhabitants, Australia’s traditional owners.

Regrettably our Government has chosen to join the United States of America in overseas wars whenever asked. Those wars have cost Australian lives and are too often unwarranted. The Government always justifies joining a coalition in conflict by claiming it to be in Australia’s interests. Most often the conflict centres on the need to control, or at least influence, countries that are rich in resources.

A significant example was when the Government of the USA invaded Iraq in March 2003, claiming that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction intended for use against western democracies. The invasion and subsequent search for the weapons revealed that none existed. But Australia jumped to attention when the USA requested us to join in the fight.

Was it good for Australia? Was the invasion of a country many thousands of kilometres from our land really in our interests? An invasion built on a lie – how could it be morally right?

In reality the conflict and our eagerness to pander to the interests of the most powerful nation on earth has potentially made us a target for terrorists. Irrational people who branded the USA as their enemy now also see our country as their enemy.

But this relatively recent action of our Government to meekly follow and swallow the propaganda and wishes of a militarily powerful nation, the USA, is not a new direction.

When I was a boy Australia joined the United States and entered into a war in Vietnam. Our Prime Minister told the Australian people that joining the conflict was necessary to stop the Communists in the north of Vietnam from overtaking the south on their way to invading other countries further south, including Australia. They called it a “domino effect”. It was nonsense of course. It was a civil war between North and South Vietnam and neither the USA nor Australia had any right to be involved.

Australia needed to increase its military strength and introduced conscription of young men who did not even have the right to vote at that time. Yes, these young men were forced to go to war and could not exercise a vote either for or against that policy. They were made to carry firearms; they were made to shoot and were inevitably shot at but they did not have the right to vote.

Over 500 Australian lives were lost and more than 3,000 young men were seriously injured. That statistic doesn’t take account of the many thousands of young people who were psychologically damaged by our involvement.

The war started in 1955 and Australia became involved at the request of the USA in 1962. Our involvement lasted until 1973 when the withdrawal of American and Australian troops acknowledged that we had lost the war. Did the Communists sweep south and into Australia? Of course not. South Vietnam is a thriving capitalist region of the country. We paid a huge price for that conflict but did we learn from it? It seems not.

Why am I telling you about these matters? What I hope is that you will question the decisions of Government when it comes to foreign or international policy. I am not suggesting those policies are always wrong, but they may be morally or even legally wrong. It is important to consider these policies when you eventually get the chance to make a decision about which political party you want to govern our country. Don’t just consider domestic issues.

A few years back I used to write poetry when moved so to do. Generally speaking I have not shared my poems but I am going to make an exception and share one with you. I hope it isn’t too depressing. But then, I suppose this whole subject matter is depressing. Nevertheless it is important to recognise the reality of what happens in the world. Perhaps our young future leaders can be more proactive in ensuring that Australia doesn’t say “how high” when other, more powerful nations ask us to jump.

I close this letter with my poem …

DANIEL

Daniel was told to go to war,
A war he didn’t understand,
It doesn’t matter his father said,
The army will make you a man.

Orders were to be followed,
No-one dared disobey,
He wasn’t even able to vote,
He wasn’t allowed a say.

Daniel was afraid,
He didn’t know why he was there,
He wanted answers to his questions,
But nobody seemed to care.

All he could see was terror,
And all he asked was why,
Why does man so organise,
To cause other men to die?

Questions without answers,
Rang around in Daniel’s head,
When the smoke died away and the bullets stopped,
And the living counted the dead.

Now Daniel’s going home today,
He’s going home too late,
For Daniel stepped on a land mine,
He’s going home in a crate.

Love always,
Your Popple.

*Anton Clever is well into his seventh decade … a former teacher, soldier, farm hand, lawyer and businessman (not in that order). He has travelled extensively for business and for international clients. More recently he has started writing … currently a thriller (which will probably not be worthy of publication, he says) and has written but not published a series of “postcards” from various places (specifically, Victoria, Papua New Guinea, France, Saudi Arabia, Serbia, Iran) referring to experiences in those places. He has also written for several magazines on unusual subjects but matters worthy of debate.