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War in Afghanistan: Sacrifices in vain?

By Kellie Tranter - posted Monday, 6 February 2012


It wasn't so long ago that President Nixon delivered his 1969 speech urging the American people “to persist in our search for a just peace through a negotiated settlement if possible, or through continued implementation of our plan for Vietnamisation if necessary, a plan in which we will withdraw all our forces from Vietnam on a schedule in accordance with our program, as the South Vietnamese become strong enough to defend their own freedom.”

Substitute Afghanistan for Vietnam and read that again.

At about the same time Liberal Prime Minister Billy McMahon announced that all Australian combat troops would be withdrawn from Vietnam by the end of 1971. His announcement conformed to the decision Washington had taken to gradually withdraw U.S. troops and to "Vietnamise" the war. Domestic political pressure doesn't rate a mention in the top secret Cabinet minute dated 26 July 1971 recording the decision to withdraw Australian troops from Vietnam by the end of 1971, despite the Vietnam Moratorium Campaign. The Australian government merely followed the United States lead in Vietnam, and the same applies in Afghanistan. Consecutive Australian governments have tagged along unreservedly.

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Though public opinion might count for little in the decisions of those who determine our fate, and that of our children, we have an obligation to support those with true insight who also have the courage to speak out for what we believe to be right.

Matthew Hoh, Senior Fellow for the Centre for International Policy and former U.S. Marine Officer and U.S. State Department Official, is a good example. He has long understood the difference between futile participation in civil war in Afghanistan, on the one hand, and fighting terrorism on the other. Hoh is scheduled to speak at the National Security Australia 2012 conference. He may need more than a little luck to get much "quality media air time", but if you know he's speaking you'll be able to track down what he says.

Taking a different tack to a similar end, Senator Scott Ludlam late last year agreed to table a petition about the war in Afghanistan when parliament resumes this year. Names can still be added to the petition here. Even though it is largely symbolic, no one is pretending that it will alter the course of the war or speed up the withdrawal of Australian troops, it is important nonetheless. Why? Because it gives ordinary Australians the chance to add their name to a document which will become part of an historic public record, a document which records the names of ordinary Australians who dissented from decisions and actions that powerbrokers presume to make in our names.

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Article edited by Jo Coghlan.
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About the Author

Kellie Tranter is a lawyer and human rights activist. You can follow her on Twitter @KellieTranter

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