Australian Government signs up
for Star Wars madness

"We are appalled by the Howard Government's decision to sign 
Australia up to the United States missile defence plans", said Dr 
Hannah Middleton in a media statement on behalf of the Australian 
Anti-Bases Campaign Coalition last week.

The US program is estimated to cost a minimum of $30 billion and 
Canberra is not giving any estimates of how much Australia will 
be expected to contribute. With a defence budget already running 
at over $43 million a day and Medicare and education in desperate 
need of more funding, this is irresponsible, she said.

The Howard Government is dragging us into a massively expensive, 
controversial and still-experimental system that will make 
Australia complicit in US plans to turn space into an arena of 
war.

Furthermore, the US is not building a defensive system. It is 
planning to militarise and control space. The US Space Command 
report, Vision for 2020, speaks of "dominating the space 
dimension of military operations to protect US interests and 
investment".

The US Air Force Space Command Strategic Master Plan says the 
United States intends to dominate the world by turning space into 
the crucial battlefield of the 21st Century.

"Air Force Space Command has the vision and the people to ensure 
the United States achieves space superiority today and in the 
future", say the US planners adding that the US will not allow 
any other power, including its allies, to get a foothold in 
space.

Denounced

Most competent authorities have already denounced the Star Wars 
project. A report by the General Accounting Office of the US 
Congress warned that Bush' s drive to erect an anti-missile 
system is hampered by immature technology and limited testing, 
raising the risk of failure.

In February 2002, Australia's Office of National Assessments said 
that the US missile defence system could provoke a regional arms 
race and "would not be in Australia's diplomatic or security 
interests".

The announcement by the Australian Government that it is signing 
up to Star Wars has been followed by a report in The 
Australian (December 6-7) that the Government is to purchase 
long range missiles from the United States.

These missiles have a much longer range than any missiles 
presently available to the Australian Air Force and can be fitted 
with either conventional, nuclear, chemical or biological 
warheads.

No other country in the Southeast Asian region has such long 
range missiles in its arsenal and the Australian Government's 
action will inevitably provoke an arms race in the region to 
possess similar or even more deadly weapons.

It is clear that the Australian Government and its US masters are 
rushing the militarisation of Australia and the Asian region. It 
involves US bases in Japan, South Korea, Taiwan and on ships and 
aircraft in the region. These steps are all preparations for a 
large war in the future to contain and overwhelm the People's 
Republic of China and impose US domination over the whole of 
Asia.

Base for tanks and troops

Australia is being turned into a base for the stockpiling of 
weapons (by establishing a base at Darwin to house US tanks and 
troops), by renovating the naval facilities at Cockburn Sound in 
WA to take larger US warships, by using Lancelin (also in WA) as 
a bombing range and weapons testing area, by upgrading Pine Gap 
spy facilities and by building up the armed forces of Australia 
to be used whenever and wherever the US command decides.

Australian military, air and naval forces are being steadily 
integrated into the US military structures by the adoption of 
military equipment supplied by the US and similar training and 
command structures. It is called "interoperability" which means 
that Australia's military forces are becoming a de-facto arm of 
the US military.

The Australian Government is also purchasing three new warships 
which the Pentagon says are cover against some "longer range 
threats against the west coast of the USA".

China has expressed concern about US plans to surround it with 
Tactical Missile Defence (TMD) deployments in Taiwan, Japan, and 
South Korea and on ships and planes throughout the region.

The Howard Government signed up for theatre missile defence when 
it announced on November 7 that work would start on three new 
air-warfare destroyers by 2006. It is expected that they will be 
equipped with the US Aegis radar and missile systems. Defence 
Minister Robert Hill says this program is not "specifically 
designed to protect continental Australia".

Destabilise the region

China has repeatedly warned that US plans for missile defence 
will be destabilising and will provoke a new regional arms race. 
Development of TMD weapons, the Chinese say, counteracts 
confidence-building efforts in the region and is bound to 
undermine the global strategic balance.

Another important Australian facility under the effective control 
and command of the US is the spy base at Pine Gap. It has already 
been involved in the supply of information used in the bombing of 
Yugoslavia and in the Iraq war.

It has been involved in the Star Wars program for more than a 
decade. New radomes built at Pine Gap are for the latest 
satellite system called Space-Based Infra-Red System. Media 
reports indicate that 50 new homes are being built at Alice 
Springs for additional American staff coming to Pine Gap.

Far from achieving security for Australia, the Government's 
policies and war preparations will inevitably result in a much 
wider war in the Asian region, with possibly tremendous 
casualties and the destruction of any respect for Australia in 
the region.

Australia is already widely regarded as the deputy sheriff of the 
US and Australia's militarisation and effective integration into 
the US military command structures and its use of US equipment 
will confirm that belief.

There is no benefit for Australia in the Howard Government's rush 
to militarise Australia. Our security will be damaged, trade and 
diplomatic relations with our regional neighbours will be 
negatively affected and our sovereignty will be diminished.

It has been said that President Bush is the most dangerous 
President to have ever occupied that position in the United 
States. It can be added that Prime Minister Howard is the most 
dangerous and warmongering Prime Minister that Australia has ever 
had.