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Letters to the Editor:

A lesson for Australia

Last week I watched a TV program on Japan which asked why 
Japanese soldiers adopted a humane attitude to POWs during WW1 
while during WW2 they adopted the most bestial of attitudes as 
exemplified by the treatment of Australian POWs in Changi and 
elsewhere. It was not only in Singapore that extreme brutality 
was displayed by Japanese soldiers. It also occurred during their 
occupation of the Korean peninsula and China in the 1930s. Why 
the change in a period of only 30 years the TV program asked?

The answer is to be found in the militarisation of Japan in this 
period in which Japan embarked on all-out imperialist expansion. 
Imperialism and its hand-maiden, militarisation and wars of 
conquest, carry with them unparalleled barbarity and the 
ferocious treatment of those who resist foreign occupation and 
intensified exploitation at the hands of the new masters.

There is a lesson in this for Australia, which is now also 
undergoing not only militarisation in terms of massive rearmament 
but also a new conservative and racist brainwashing of those who 
are to become the occupiers of foreign countries.

Until now it is true to say that Australia's military forces have 
adopted a considerate and human attitude to others, but for how 
long?

Australian forces have been sent to the Solomon Islands and this 
is justified by the story that they could not run things 
themselves. The last news I heard was that over 600 Solomon 
Islanders had been thrown into jail by the Australian occupiers 
and administrators who have effectively taken over the running of 
the Island.

It is likely that a contingent of Australian police will be sent 
to PNG on a similar mission — to pacify an unruly population 
that might threaten the steady flow of profits to the 
corporations. And how many other Island states is Australia going 
to occupy in pre-emptive strikes?

But what happens when resistance develops and Australians start 
getting killed and the demand, "Australians go home!" becomes a 
roar as is being heard in Iraq today?

The Australian Government is preparing for major wars. Why else 
are huge stockpiles of advanced weapons being accumulated and 
Australia's military forces being integrated into those of the 
US? They have little to do with the defence of Australia. After 
all no power threatens Australia in any way.

It is for the purpose of occupying other countries that 
Australian forces are being prepared. The troops will be 
indoctrinated to support the imposition of an unwelcome 
government on foreign countries, while exploiting the resources 
of that country. This is the fundamental aim of imperialism and 
goes with a vicious and cruel attitude towards the "inferior" 
people of the occupied country.

That is why the Japanese troops became so barbaric during WW2. If 
we follow down the same imperialist path as did the Japanese 
there will be those militarist elements in Australia who will 
carry out similar atrocities.

Bruce Gillman
Sydney

The Australian Federal Police believe that drug syndicates 
have switched to pushing amphetamines rather than heroin for a 
better return for their money. To claim, as Mr Howard does, that 
during his term in office heroin arrests have fallen by 68 per 
cent and to claim that it was his "tough on drugs" policy that 
did it is nonsense.

Arrests for amphetamines have increased by the same figure — 68 
per cent.

A recent study by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime 
has found that Australia has the highest levels of ecstasy use in 
the world and ranks only second after Thailand for 
methamphetamine use.

So much for John Howard's "tough on drugs" approach. With mental 
services in crisis across the country, drug users and their 
families find it hard to access treatment and rehabilitation.

Drug dealers' arrests have fallen by almost half — where is the 
"tough" policy there?

Mr Howard knows how to muddy election waters, that's for sure. It 
was children overboard, Reith's dogs on the waterfront, no 
apology to Stolen Generations, fridge magnets and other tricks 
just to name a few.

Once again he is trying to use "soft on drugs"/"hard on drugs" 
approach to score some points and divert attention from the fact 
that he is a liar, a war criminal and will do anything to stay in 
power.

Sam Anderson
Sydney, NSW

I was struck by two stories in last Friday's daily papers. One 
was in the Daily Telegraph and was about the lone asylum 
seeker in the Lombrum detention centre on Manus Island.

To quote: "The entire cost of the Pacific Solution which keeps 
asylum seekers in detention in places like Nauru and Lombrum, is 
now heading towards $1 billion". ("A human toll that just doesn't 
add up", Daily Telegraph, 13/2/04).

Another story was in The Australian. The headline — 
"$500m more 'a must for aged care'". "The Howard Government must 
find an extra $500m for nursing homes in the May budget or face 
closures that will cause gridlock in the public hospital system, 
a national aged alliance says", was the beginning of the article 
which touched upon one of the most urgent problems our society is 
facing.

I have yet to see the total sum the Howard Government has 
squandered and continues to squander on its military adventures. 
How many billions will that be?

C Li
Melbourne, Vic