Extracts from Irregular Gipsland Peace Newsletter, No. 46 May-August 2008:

Irregular Gippsland Peace Newsletter Summary

No.46 May-August 2008
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Peter Gardner (ed) c/-PO Swifts Creek Australia 3896

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The War and the Price of Fuel

Since the war in Iraq began there have been restrictions on supply of oil. Iraq is currently producing about 2 mill. barrels per day (bpd) whereas before the war the production level was 3.5 mill. bpd. World oil supply is consequently reduced by this amount. Further the uncertainty of supply is heightened in particular by the continuing threats against Iran - the fourth largest exporter of petroleum. Any such disruption in the Middle East - in particular if the Persian Gulf was closed or became a war zone would see oil price climb to astronomical levels. In the United States the threat of 'stagflation' looms.

From the outset the war in Iraq has been financed in the US by loose monetary policy at home and borrowing from abroad. This has led to a declining dollar and increased inflation in the US. In most instances this inflation is exported to other nations by higher fuel and commodity prices.

The price of fuel is in a major part the legacy of Bush, Blair and Howard's Iraq adventure. Unfortunately there seems no way out of the spiralling fuel costs and the Rudd government may find themselves the recipients of the eventual backlash in the electorate. It remains a puzzle why neither the ALP nor the media have spoken about the war and the price of oil in any meaningful way.

Labour's Actions

Whilst the Australian Defence Forces are technically no longer on combat duty in Iraq there are still over 1000 military personnel - many of them on HMAS Anzac. Whilst the belligerent attitude to Iran remains a priority of the US administration the ships in the Gulf are at high risk of a sudden attack or being involved in a wider conflict, regardless of whether it commences by accident or design. These sailors are certainly the largest and most vulnerable group of Australian forces overseas. Perhaps the most recent of Rudd's statements that we went to war under false intelligence - something even Blind Freddy knew in 2002 - may make the electorate consider what other effects the war had and is continuing to have on them. One wonders how long it will take for the war parties to admit their folly.

The (Good and Bad) Middle East War News

1. The former Prime Minister of Malaysia Mohammed Mahathir "speaking at (the) Imperial College in London... singled out US President George Bush, former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Australia's former prime minister John Howard as he wants to see them tried in absence for war crimes committed in Iraq". (ICH 27/4) (see also Monbiot & Kampmark below)

2. Australian combat troop involvement in Iraq has officially ended. (3/6 various)

The Murdoch Boycott & other Media News

In a brief Internet article Richard Neville asks: "can't we have scandals over things that matter more than budding pubic hair, like an $80 million corporate bonus being considered "fair", or that a sole tycoon can manipulate the media on several continents and be lauded." Counterpunch 27/5. See also below

New Anti War Australian Veterans Group Formed

Stand Fast is encouraging serving members of the Australian Defence Force to inform themselves about what is really happening in Iraq and Afghanistan and is prepared to provide advice and support for those who may question serving in these wars.

The anti-war group currently has members in Adelaide, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne and Sydney.

For further information
phone 0401 586 923,
email standfast.au@gmail.com
or visit http://www.stand-fast.webs.com
(thanks MAPW Newsletter)

Richard Neville and the Bill Henson Controversy

In a short article published on Counterpunch.com (27/5) Richard Neville exposed the hypocrisy in our society with regards child exploitation and art. In particular Neville notes: "Kids are not protected when subjected to U.S. air strikes in Iraq and Afghanistan, or when they are blown up by old American cluster bombs in Laos and Cambodia, which happens often and is reported rarely, because most of the space in the newspaper is devoted to the the Beckhams or Paris or Britneys' public meltdowns and the latest baby-bump sightings. Why pick on an art photographer when the substance which powers our whole society-oil-is starting to dry up."

Oil: A Global Crisis

The Iraq War means oil costs three times more than it should, says a leading expert.
How are our lives going to change as we struggle to cope with the $200 barrel?
By Geoffrey Lean

New Element on the Periodic Table

A major research institute has just announced the discovery of the densest element yet known to science. The new element has been named the "Bushcronium". Buchcronium has one neutron, 12 assistant neutrons, 75 deputy neutrons, and 224 assistant deputy neutrons, giving it an atomic mass of 311.

These particles are held together by dark forces called morons, which are surrounded by vast quantities of lepton-like particles called peons. The symbol for Bushcronium is "W". Buchcronium's mass actually increases over time, as morons randomly interact with various elements in the atmosphere and become assistant deputy neutrons in a Bushcronium molecule, forming isodopes.

This characteristic of moron-promotion leads some scientists to believe that Bushcronium is formed whenever morons reach a certain level of concentration. This is hypothetically referred to as "Critical Morass".

When catalysed with money, Buchcronium activates Foxnewsium, an element that radiates orders of magnitude more energy, albeit as incoherent noise, since it has half as many peons, but twice as many morons. (Peace Priorities May/June 08)

War Criminals Must Fear Punishment.

by George Monbiot (excerpt)

3/6/08 "The Guardian"

"... I had no intention of arresting John Bolton, the former under-secretary of state at the US state department, when I arrived at the Hay festival. But during a panel discussion about the Iraq war, I remarked that the greatest crime of the 21st century had become so normalised that one of its authors was due to visit the festival to promote his book. I proposed that someone should attempt a citizens' arrest, in the hope of instilling a fear of punishment among those who plan illegal wars.

After the session I realised that I couldn't call on other people to do something I wasn't prepared to do myself. I knew that I was more likely to be arrested and charged than Mr Bolton. I had no intention of harming him, or of acting in any way that could be interpreted as aggressive, but had I sought only to steer him gently towards the police I might have faced a range of exotic charges, from false imprisonment to aggravated assault. I was prepared to take this risk. It is not enough to demand that other people act, knowing that they will not.

If the police, the courts and the state fail to prosecute what the Nuremberg tribunal described as "the supreme international crime", I believe we have a duty to seek to advance the process. The Nuremberg principles, which arose from the prosecution of Nazi war criminals, define as an international crime the "planning, preparation, initiation or waging of a war of aggression or a war in violation of international treaties, agreements or assurances".

Bolton appears to have "participated in a common plan" to prepare for the war (also defined by the principles as a crime) by inserting the false claim that Iraq was seeking to procure uranium from Niger into a state department factsheet.... http://www.monbiot.com

The High Cost of a Single War-Like Remark by Dave Lindorff (8/6)

Chaos in Afghanistan by Brian Cloughley

The Yellow Press by William S. Lind

John Howard and War Crimes by Binoy Kampmark