Hypocrisy '92
By Tom Jordan
A large flotilla from the United States Navy will visit Australia in early May. It will consist of seven Gulf-serving warships including the one of the world's largest aircraft carriers, USS Independence. Also likely to accompany this visit will be General Norman Schwarzkopf, described by Murdoch's Sydney Telegraph-Mirror as the "undisputed hero" of the Gulf War.
The visit is part of "Operation Remembrance '92", this year's celebration of the defeat of the Japanese navy in the World War II Battle of the Coral Sea. Ceremonies are scheduled for Sydney, Canberra, Townsville and Hobart. The presence of Schwarzkopf, who commanded US forces in the Gulf War, can only mean that the occasion will mainly celebrate the carnage inflicted on the people of Iraq.
"Operation Remembrance '92" is utter hypocrisy. In 1942, the Battle of the Coral Sea was fought to defeat fascism. Prior to the war, Japan was cynically armed by the Australian and US ruling classes. Australian Prime Minister Bob Menzies earned the nickname "Pig Iron Bob" for his role in allowing exports of iron to Japan which was later to be returned as bombs.
Australian and US waterside workers and seafarers risked their jobs through the '30s to protest against exports of iron and armaments to Japan while it was brutally invading and occupying China. It is the height of hypocrisy now to use the anniversary of a victory over fascism to glorify a brutal imperialist war.
It is to be hoped protests against the US ships' presence will focus on US government policy rather than the ships' personnel, many of whom are serving in the navy as an alternative to the dole queue. More than 2000 US military personnel refused to serve in the Gulf War, and hundreds were imprisoned. Some sailors were put on trial for mutiny.
There will also be protests against the arrival of two French warships in Sydney on February 23 and 24 to celebrate the arrival of the explorer La Perouse in 1788. Further details are available from the Sydney Peace Squadron, phone (02) 316 5790.