[wvns] 20,000 American soldiers coming to Australia, June 18
"By June l8, 20,000 American soldiers and sailors will all be in
place to commence bombing and blowing the living daylights out of
our beautiful and sacred land of Australia."
20,000 American soldiers coming to Australia, June 18
Wednesday, 23 May 2007
Shoalwater Bay D-day is looming! In less than a month, we will be
cocooned at the Yeppoon caravan park with our warm and friendly
community of fellow Peace Convergence activists. People of all ages
and backgrounds who have come together to oppose the biggest wargames
this country has ever seen – Talisman Sabre 2007.
And we've just been told by the Australian Defence Forces that the
Americans are now arriving in greater numbers than they first told us.
By June l8, 20,000 American soldiers and sailors will all be in place
to commence bombing and blowing the living daylights out of our
beautiful and sacred land of Australia.
Personally, writing this now, knowing firsthand the beauty and quiet
sanctity of Shoalwater Bay which I've sailed into twice, the amazing
biodiversity that it encompasses makes me want to cry as I think what
this country means to me, what this country has given to me over the
years and that there are so few of our fellow Australians who know or
seem to care that this is happening.
Twenty thousand US soldiers and sailors in nuclear powered aircraft
carriers, destroyers and submarines coming from active duty in the
Gulf, leave off killing innocent Iraqis (`collateral damage') and
other parts of the world to train with our decent young men and women
in the ADF to refine how to be more effective killers. On Australian soil.
Live aerial bombings, ship to shore naval bombardments, land based
artillery firings, Abrams tanks, landmines, amphibious landings,
underwater depth charges let off where the largest colony of dugongs
on the east coast feed and the endangered Loggerhead and Green turtles
breed in the mouth of Shoalwater Bay.
Nuclear subs sliding inside the Great Barrier Reef (when we're told
that the Reef is dying) where there are 26 species of whales and
dolphins. The subs will be using frequency sonar at levels millions of
times greater than would burst the human eardrum. Old American
warships scuttled in the waters around the Reef straffed by US
Airforce jets hammering them with rockets and bombs to show their
"good Aussie mates" how effective are their latest laser guided missiles.
B52 bombers, Stealth bombers and B1 bombers flying non-stop from Guam
to drop their massive tonnage of bombs from five kilometres high on
the acquifer ridden and ancient desert landscape near Katherine, NT -
against the ignored wishes of the traditional owners - fuelling in
midair before flying back to base.
Part of their training no doubt to simulate a similar run from the US
to bomb Iran. It takes three semi-trailers to load up just one B52
bomber with its full payload of bombs. Just one bomber. Bomber after
bomber.
On our ancient ochred desert. "Rubbish country only inhabited by
blackfellas anyway..!"
Don't worry that the world is melting down from climate change and the
oceans of aviation fuel and heavy crude oil their ships will guzzle up
to come here from the other side of the world. Don't worry about the
carcinogenic nature of all these heavy metal bombs (even if we can
`trust' them on their word not to use depleted uranium bombs) they
will explode and will drift on the wind over Australia for up to one
thousand kilometres from the drop site.
I believe we have an urgent responsibility to speak up for and
`defend' country.
We have a moral obligation to object to our sacred soil being used to
train soldiers for pre-emptive wars that are launched to steal natural
resources from people who are no threat to us, who are always the main
casualties in these adventurist wars to grab their natural resources
so we can indulge our own first world lifestyles.
What does it take dear fellow Australians before the immorality of our
inaction dawns home to us making us aware that we are complicit in
their murder while we say or do nothing?
What can I do I hear you say? Come to Shoalwater Bay and by your
presence bear witness and send a strong message to everyone that its
not being done in your name.
We've organised an imaginative and active campaign to oppose this with
people coming from all over Australia to say `No'!
We will converge on Shoalwater Bay and set up our peace camp at
Yeppoon after kicking off the protest with a street demonstration and
concert in Brisbane June l6 aimed at grabbing media attention and
public interest. We want to steal the PR initiative from the
Australian and US military BEFORE their war games and live
bombardments start in earnest June l9.
Mark down in your calendar to be in Brisbane the morning of Saturday
June l6 ready to take to the streets in a colourful media oriented
event. (More about that "street parade with a difference' in another
email). Come join us in Brisbane that night for the Peace Convergence
concert and then kick up our heels to let Howard and Bush know that we
want to dance to a different beat to `the drum of war'.
For the past six months we have been working with 35 coordinators from
around the country, having regular phone hookups, now happening on a
weekly basis in this final runup to the big protest, organising people
in their communities to come. We have close and active involvement
with a good group of people at Shoalwater Bay who are so pleased we
are coming up in solidarity to support their community. They are there
to help us have a good and memorable stay. You'll even be able to grab
a hot shower after a hard day `at the barricades'.
Whilst it was a great idea for the environment to hire a train, it was
just too expensive to hire it ourselves from Brissie to Rockie. We
have the funds of a poor church mouse so far to pull all this off!
However senior cits who can get a pensioner concession are encouraged
to take the train to Rockie where buses will pick you up on arrival
nightfall June l7 and take you to a hot shower and a friendly welcome
at the Yeppoon caravan park.
Those of you who can only come for a few days and want to fly from
Sydney, Melbourne or Brisbane, aim to be there around the evening of
Thursday June 2l to Sunday dusk June 24 when most actions are likely
to take place. A regular bus will take you from the airport at Rockie
to Yeppoon. There's a big night planned in Yeppoon Townhall with the
locals Friday night June 22 with speakers including Helen Caldicott
and the world premiere screening of "Shoalwater Bay: Weapons Wastedump
One Day, World Heritage the Next!" by yours truly.
We know it requires effort for you to get to Brisbane and then onto
Yeppoon. We know most of our fellow Australians don't feel they have a
say anymore in our political life so why care? We know the majority of
Australians are `asleep', struggling to pay their mortgage (aren't we
all..?) or pay their credit card debt, brainwashed to
shop-till-they-drop rather than to struggle to protect this country of
ours which has, by our birthright as Australians, given us so much and
now needs our help to protect it.
NOW is the time dear regional Coordinators and fellow activists to put
the hard word on yourselves, your families and your friends to commit
to coming to Brisbane and then onto Shoalwater Bay.
NOW is the time to tell us the numbers that are coming from your
community because you can imagine the logistics of an exercise like
this so we need to know now who is coming, not on the day of your
arrival up there.
Regional Coordinators, please `crack the whip' and get serious in
these remaining few weeks to have weekly meetings with your local
community to confirm the numbers and make sure people know what to
bring, what is expected of them when they get there, transport
arrangements etc. Show them the six minute copy of "Oh Talisman" dvd
that we took the trouble and time to edit together and sent you to
orientate them to the issue.
Coordinators, get people up off their `bums' and motivated! Show them
the Vieques dvd and the mess that wonderful island turned into after
the US military took over for its weapons testing. Same as they did in
the Phillipines, Okinawa. This is our wonderful Australia these war
criminal killers now want to despoil. The same military who tortured
and held David Hicks and countless others for years without a proper
trial while telling us what paragons of justice they are and how we
all should embrace the `democratic' American way .
Now they want to destroy our homeland and have our nation sucked more
into their adventurist wars. Don't fantasise about a Revolution in
Venezuela. Make your own peaceful Revolution here. Now!
For the youth in our ranks romanticising about the past, this could
well rank as your Woodstock, your anti-Vietnam war or Jabiluka
protest. Be there or be square! Bring your guitars, your drums and
voices. Lots of campfire camaraderie and tales to tell. But no
hotheads please! Only people who are prepared to respect the group
decisions and peaceful, non violent actions should come.
Hopefully with me, you will see that this is an important one as we
bear witness to our fellow Australians to treasure what we have and
not let our political masters throw it away. This military madness has
to stop. Not in our name.
See you all in Brisbane for that `demo with a difference' Saturday
morning, June l6 (a few celebs to rub shoulders with joining us), at
the Peace Convergence concert that night and then at Yeppoon caravan
park and Shoalwater Bay. You're sure to find a community of
like-minded souls who will warm the cockles of your hearts!
yours in solidarity,
David Bradbury.
Peace Convergence 17-24 June
*********************************************************************
WORLD VIEW NEWS SERVICE
To subscribe to this group, send an email to:
wvns-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
NEWS ARCHIVE IS OPEN TO PUBLIC VIEW
http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/wvns/
Need some good karma? Appreciate the service?
Please consider donating to WVNS today.
Email ummyakoub@yahoo.com for instructions.
To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
wvns-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Yahoo! Groups Links
<*> To visit your group on the web, go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wvns/
<*> Your email settings:
Individual Email | Traditional
<*> To change settings online go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/wvns/join
(Yahoo! ID required)
<*> To change settings via email:
mailto:wvns-digest@yahoogroups.com
mailto:wvns-fullfeatured@yahoogroups.com
<*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
wvns-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com
<*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to:
No comments:
Post a Comment