Fremantlebiz - Paul's Letter from Australia

War and peace

It is going to be a great day for the air show at RAAF Pearce today. The bulwark of our western air defence system is throwing open its gates to the public in order to stimulate a bit of shock and awe.

There have been hints during the week that preparations are under way. Unusual military aircraft have passed over this way quite rapidly so that by the time I dashed outside to see what they were, they were well gone.

The Americans have sent a B1 strategic bomber to demonstrate to the Australian populace what is in store for anyone who gets too uppity. Nothing like a trial run to get everyone in the right frame of mind.

This coincides with a special US visit to Adelaide, the city of churches and scene of numerous infamous murders. President Bush's pardner in creative military strategy, US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived to deliver a bit of veni vidi vici.

A large portion of the city was sealed off to keep Mr Rumsfeld and his legion of G men safe from his Australian admirers while he endeavoured to deliver his latest instructions to our military planners.

Meantime under his direction, the Iraq war is festering away worse than ever. A quagmire in the Arabian desert demanding ever more troops and equipment.

Suicide bombing by the Iraqi insurgency has become a growth industry. They weren't bluffing when they claimed they had no shortage of volunteers willing to become martyrs for the cause. The situation seems unlikely to be resolved until the US troops go somewhere else.

The American taxpayers will be delighted to know that Mr Rumsfeld brought his sporting equipment for a game of squash. He will have told a few jokes during his visit here too. He has a grin like a Nazi death head. When he tells a joke every one laughs. They'd better. People laugh in the interest of self preservation. The names of those who don't laugh are noted for later contemplation.

The Australian contribution to the war has been low key, as far as we, the laughing public are aware. In Iraq it seems the Australian operations are in a relatively calm area. The only fatality so far has been Warrant Officer David Nary from the Australian Army's SAS Regiment - killed last week in a vehicle accident in neighbouring Kuwait. His military funeral was held here in Perth this week. SAS colleagues fired a traditional three blank rounds from their rifles in salute.

I think there is now a fair a bit of recognition here that Australia was sucked into this war on false pretences, and now the best strategy is to be like the three wise monkeys. Keep Australian heads down as much as possible. The loss of one of our soldiers by whatever means is one too many.

There have been indications that the new Iraqi government might request a departure of the Australians in a few weeks. This seems to have surprised the Howard government. Home for Christmas? Not likely.

I see on Cryptome this morning that the US military death tally for Iraq has reached 2,175. 635 of those people have died this year. Actually there has been a few more deaths since the figures were tallied. It's so hard to keep up. There are probably going to be quite a few more before the year is out. The Iraqi insurgency will be keen to break their record of 958 American soldiers killed last year.

Another website called Iraq Body Count estimates today that the number of Iraqis killed is between 26,982 and 30,380.

It seems to me that Mr Rumsfeld's believing he had time to play squash in Australia would have to be one of the most obscene gestures delivered at the American, Australian and Iraqi peoples by any US official.

I also observe that today is the 64th anniversary of the loss of HMAS Sydney off the Western Australian coast in a battle with the German raider HSK Kormoran. The entire 645 crew of Sydney perished, almost without trace. The Royal Australian Navy has failed to locate the wreck site to this day.

© MMV Paul R. Weaver.

About the writer

Check out each month's subject index on the Calendar Page for my "common-man" monologues about survival in 21st century Australia – plus a little history occasionally. An original essay is added most days.

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