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Greg Barns

"Nothing Green or Peacable in Silly Gestures"

The Australian

April 10, 2003

The stunt by Greenpeace and NSW Greens MP Ian Cohen in seeking to stop the passage of the Gulf-bound HMAS Sydney through Sydney Harbour on Tuesday should be condemned by the anti-war movement.

It was a wrongheaded action by a group acting outside its charter. Unfortunately, it is symptomatic of the bizarre motives of a few involved in the broad coalition opposed to the war in Iraq.

I have been involved in a number of anti-war demonstrations during the past six months and have even spoken at one of the rallies in Hobart. I remain opposed to the Iraq war primarily because the US, Britain and Australia have contributed to the breakdown of the multilateralist security arrangements that have served the world so well since 1945.

But the war is almost over, and those millions of people who marched against the war, if they are serious about their cause, should now turn their attention to ensuring a prosperous and democratic post-war Iraq.

Yet it appears that not all anti-war activists want to move on – Greenpeace and Cohen are prime cases in point. The warship they sought to stop this week was heading to Iraq with Australian military personnel who will help ensure that humanitarian relief can get through to the suffering people of Iraq as expeditiously as possible. They will also be involved in ridding Iraq of landmines – hardly acts of aggression.

One hopes that Greenpeace and Cohen are not a portent of things to come for the anti-war movement. This movement should never condemn our military personnel who are being sent to, or are returning from, Iraq. This was the grave mistake, remember, that the anti-Vietnam War movement made. The consequences are with us today in the form of thousands of mentally and physically scarred Vietnam veterans who were targeted by protesters.

The likes of Greenpeace should focus their attention on being the public pressure point that watches every move of the US, the UK, Australia and, hopefully, the UN in Iraq's reconstruction.

But one fears that the far Left of the anti-war movement is not particularly interested in the aftermath of this war.

One wonders why Greenpeace used its donors' money to organise a highly risky demonstration in Sydney Harbour when there is nothing in its charter mandating such activity? According to its website, Greenpeace's mission is to use "non-violent, creative confrontation to expose global environmental problems, and force solutions for a green and peaceful future. Greenpeace's goal is to ensure the ability of the earth to nurture life in all its diversity."

Yet the actions of its Australian operatives this week are hardly a testament to this noble intention.

The Iraqi people have no need for any more of these anti-war stunts. They want those who say they care about their long-term welfare to be true to their word. They want political and economic freedom, and they know that the best way to achieve that is through the architecture of genuine democracy and an open, free-market economy where they are able to trade with the rest of the world and not be subject to unwarranted hegemonic claims from any nation, including the US.

John Howard is a political winner from this war, thus far. The antics of the hard Left in the anti-war movement and protesting against military personnel will only enhance the Prime Minister's status.

That would be a pity. After all, his Government was a willing participant in the Iraq conflict. The anti-war movement in this country must now focus on ensuring that the Howard Government stays on to create a new, democratic and open Iraq.