Serious criminal charges against ABC journalist Dan Oakes for reporting leaked material on Australian elite troops committing atrocities in Afghanistan have been dropped, on public interest grounds. Pip Hinman argues this is an important win.
Australian Defence Force (ADF)
The federal government has introduced a new bill which, if passed, would help normalise the use of defence forces in a civilian context, write Bevan Ramsden and Pip Hinman.
The Independent and Peaceful Australia Network has condemned the federal government's plans to spend billions to be a loyal deputy sheriff to the United States in the Asia-Pacific region, writes Vince Scappatura.
The staged drama of the PM’s June 19 cyber scare media conference and AFP raids on a NSW Labor MP were a cynical softening up exercise for the federal government's $270 billion military spend announcement, writes Peter Boyle.
Peace groups want the deployment of United States marines to Darwin to be stopped, arguing there should be no special exceptions during th COVID-19 crisis, reports Kerry Smith.
The Afghanistan war may be largely forgotten, were it not for the Australian Federal Police raid on the ABC’s Sydney offices on June 5 to collect evidence for the trial of army lawyer and whistleblower David McBride.
Afghanistan is the longest war Australia has ever been involved in. Yet it has largely been conducted in secret, with few media reports and even fewer politicians wanting to talk about it.
The Prime Minister’s January 29 announcement that Australia is destined to become a bigger arms dealer has provoked widespread dissent from aid organisations and anti-war networks.
The Defence Export Strategy aims to lift Australia to become one of the top 10 defence industry exporting countries within a decade. Save the Children, World Vision, the Australian Council for International Development and the Greens have all condemned the move to export death and profit from bloodshed.
The Prime Minister’s January 29 announcement that Australia is destined to become a bigger arms dealer has provoked widespread dissent from aid organisations and anti-war networks.
The Defence Export Strategy aims to lift Australia to become one of the top 10 defence industry exporting countries within a decade. Save the Children, World Vision, the Australian Council for International Development and the Greens have all condemned the move to export death and profit from bloodshed.
Figures released on December 28 by the Australian National Audit Office revealed the Australian Defence Force has spent $10.3 billion on weapons and military equipment from the United States in the past four years. The report estimated about half the money was spent supporting Australian Defence Force activity in Syria and Iraq in that four-year period.
Australian special forces routinely commit war crimes in Afghanistan.
Such a conclusion is strongly suggested by hundreds of pages of secret Australian Defence Force documents leaked to the ABC, which were revealed on July 11.
Since US President Donald Trump’s inauguration, there has been a spike in commentary about the increasing risk of a war in our region — a war that could involve the US and China. As things stand, it would be impossible for Australia to avoid involvement in such a war. That is a reality we must urgently confront.
Legendary punk-dub-electronica group Asian Dub Foundation are celebrating their 20th year with the release of a typically topical new album, The Signal And The Noise. Green Left's Mat Ward spoke to founding member, guitarist and band leader Steve Chandra Savale, a one-man riff factory who always has his finger on the political pulse.
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