Why we don't support our troops

Since the outbreak of war the media has relentlessly pushed the line that whatever your attitude to the war you must support the Australian troops.

Simon Crean, Bob Brown and leading figures in the anti-war movement have fallen into line behind the rhetoric that anti-war activists should patriotically back "our" boys. This is a dangerous stance for anti-war campaigners to take as it concedes ground to the warmongers and makes it harder to build a powerful movement against US imperialism.

We need to build a movement to stop the killing in this war and in the future wars that US imperialism with Australian backing is preparing to wage - not for spurious, patriotic reasons back our troops.

Socialists don't want to see young, working class Australians die in this war. That's why we call on the Howard government to immediately pull Australian troops out of the Middle East.

The rank and file soldiers are just pawns used by the government. Howard does not give a stuff whether they are killed, wounded or suffer mental breakdowns.

The Australian and US troops from the last Gulf War and from Vietnam were effectively abandoned after the war. The support and compensation payments their families received were pathetic.

For Howard and the Australian ruling class workers are simply fodder to be exploited at home for profit in the factories, offices or building sites or cannon fodder to die overseas in the pursuit of the profits of Australian and US companies in their wars of imperial conquest.

The best thing we can do to save the lives of rank and file Australian soldiers and of Iraqi soldiers and civilians is to build the largest protests possible against this murderous war. The more we do to undermine the war effort the quicker the troops will be brought home.

Even though we won't stop this war, the bigger the movement we build against it the more difficult it will be for the likes of Howard to send off more working class Australians to die in future wars. One of the triumphs of the anti-Vietnam War movement was that for many years afterwards it severely limited the ability of US and Australian governments to send troops off to fight and die.

Though socialists don't want to see rank and file Australian troops die we don't in any way support them fighting this war. We don't believe that Australian troops should obey orders and carry out their "duty" to kill Iraqis.

Socialists are totally opposed to Australian troops killing Iraqi troops or civilians. We do not privilege the lives of Australians over those of the people of Iraq, particularly as "our" side is totally wrong in this war.

Australian troops are not simply doing their "job". They are helping to impose the bloody rule of US, British and Australian imperialism on the people of Iraq.

It was fantastic that some Australian sailors effectively refused to fight in this war by refusing inoculations. Socialists realise it is very difficult for rank and file soldiers to refuse orders but to the extent that they can without putting their lives at risk we encourage them to try to frustrate the war aims of Bush, Howard and their officers.

By taking action to undermine the war effort Australian troops will not only help the Iraqi people they will help preserve their own lives. Mindlessly obeying the orders of Howard and co is the surest way to put your life and future at risk.

This is unlikely to be a long war so it will be difficult for US and Australian troops to organise against it. But to the extent that Australian troops refuse to fire on the enemy, disobey orders and so on the anti-war movement must support them against the brutal discipline imposed by the military authorities.

In Vietnam the revolt by the US troops played an important role in ending the war. US GIs published their own anti-war papers, wore peace symbols on their helmets, disobeyed orders, deserted and eventually collectively refused to fight.

The heroic example in Iraq of a US soldier rolling grenades into officers' tents, injuring over a dozen of them, is an inspiring reminder of the similar practice of "fragging" that had US officers in Vietnam terrified of their own troops.

In 1970 a mass meeting of union delegates in Melbourne declared:

"We encourage those young men already conscripted to refuse to accept orders against their conscience, and those in Vietnam to lay down their arms in mutiny against the heinous barbarism perpetrated in our name upon the innocent, aged, men, and women and children."

It is advice that is very pertinent today.

http://www.sa.org.au/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=915&Itemid=106