In an opinion poll published in the Guardian online an astonishing 2/3 of voters either approved or strongly approved of the Prime Minister’s conduct of the nation’s affairs.
James O’Neill
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Australian voting in the United Nations on Israel reveals unpleasant realities
One of Australia’s best kept secrets by our media is our voting record in the United Nations on resolutions condemning the occupation of Palestinian land and human rights abuses by the State of Israel. (more…)
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The Australian Government is pursuing economic suicide
The prime objective of a country is to maximise the interests of its inhabitants. That objective is met in trade by selling its goods at the best possible price. What the countries leaders may think of the politics of their trading partners is an irrelevant consideration.
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The MH17 tragedy continues to unfold where geopolitics outranks truth
“The smart way to keep people passive and obedient is to strictly limit the spectrum of acceptable opinion, but allow lively debate within that spectrum.”
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The mainstream media fails on Australia’s foreign policy
Our media avoids any discussion or analysis of the literally hundreds of United States military bases that are situated in proximity to China, and similarly the hundreds of military bases aimed at “containing” Russia. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL.-Four Corners Program on Australian Alleged War Crimes in Afghanistan Raises Wider Questions
Australia is still waiting for an honest appraisal of its involvement in other countries wars of choice, almost invariably carried out for other than the officially professed reasons. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. Assange Case Reveals True Colours of the So-Called Western Democracies
One is tempted to suggest that all Australians travelling abroad should have a warning attached to their passports: “if you do anything to upset the Americans, don’t expect our help.” (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. The Rhetoric and the Reality: Australia, the United States and the World in the 21st Century.
Henry Wotton is perhaps best remembered as the author of the phrase that an ambassador was an honest gentleman sent abroad to lie for the good of his country. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. Iran: Ancient History, New Modern Role
“Iran has an ancient history but a very modern present and future. Despite the best (or worst) of some European nations and others such as the United States and Australia, Iran has powerful friends and bright prospects.” (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. The Douma “chemical attack”: still waiting for an apology.
On 7 April 2018 an alleged chemical attack took place in the city of Douma in the Syrian Arab Republic. Dramatic footage of the “victims” was widely broadcast throughout the western mainstream media. Particularly prominent were images of children foaming at the mouth and being hosed down. The footage for these dramatic depictions was almost entirely sourced from a group known as the White Helmets. They are invariably depicted in the western media as a form of civil defence organisation. They are in fact an arm of Britain’s MI6, trained by the British and financed by the UK and in the United States. (more…)
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New revelations about Australia and the Iraq War
A new ABC report, quoting from a previously classified document, reveals that the Australian government decided in early 2002 to join the American led Iraq War, but failed to disclose that to Parliament or the public. (more…)
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America’s permanent war complex: a comment on Porter’s argument
A recent article by US commentator Gareth Porter raises many issues that should be of concern to Australians. That they will in all probability be ignored points to some wider changes needed in our society. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. Julie Bishop’s Unmemorable Tenure as Foreign Minister
The departure of Julie Bishop as Foreign Minister is no cause for regret. Her tenure was marked by hypocrisy, selective application of international law, and blindness to geopolitical realities. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. Caspian Sea Agreement Symptomatic of Wider Geopolitical Changes.
On 12 August 2018, the five littoral states to the Caspian Sea (Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia and Turkmenistan) signed a historic agreement governing the use of the Caspian Sea. (more…)
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JAMES ONEILL. Australia’s Foreign Policy: the Rhetoric and the Reality.
A recent article on the ABC website by Andrew Probyn and Andrew Green suggested that Australia may be poised to play a role in a threatened United States attack on Iran. That role would, it was suggested, be played by the United States controlled spy facility at Pine Gap in the Northern Territory. The prospect of a US attack on Iran has increased in recent weeks, mainly because of a series of moves by the United States and some typically exaggerated rhetoric from United States President Donald Trump. In a tweet from Trump last week, directed at Iran’s President Rouhani, he said: NEVER EVER THREATEN THE UNITED STATES AGAIN OR YOU WILL SUFFER THE CONSEQUENCES THE LIKES OF WHICH FEW THROUGHOUT HISTORY HAVE YOU EVER SUFFERED BEFORE. (capitals in the original).This is eerily similar to the threats Trump issued against North Korea, which was followed by a summit between the two presidents. Trump was never going to carry out his threats against North Korea because their security had been underwritten by both Russia and China, and the United States was in no position to start a war against either or both of those nations. The issue here, however, is not whether or not Trump will carry out his threats against Iran (which are many), but rather the status such threats have, and the reaction to those threats by acolytes of the United States such as Australia. The ABC article cited Foreign Minister Julie Bishop who emphasized “diplomatic efforts to bring Iran to heel.” “Australia,” she said, “is urging Iran to be a force for peace and stability in the region.” Quite where and how this “urging” is being done is unclear, and prima facie improbable given the relations between the two nations. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. Australian Government silent on OPCW Report
On 7th April 2018 an incident occurred in the Syrian city of Douma, 10 km North east of the capital Damascus. It was alleged, initially by the jihadi extremists occupying the city that a nerve gas attack had been carried out by Syrian government forces. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. AUSTRALIA AND THE BRI: WHY SO RELUCTANT?
The Sydney Morning Herald has recently published a series of articles (18-23 June 2018) on China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). The articles come at a time when relations between China and Australia are getting distinctly cooler. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. When will the Australian Opposition and Parliament actually do its job over the Syrian war?
The US Secretary of Defence, General Mattis, recently announced that the US was intending to create a 30,000 strong “border force” to occupy a portion of northern Syria. This is territory in which the largest group are ethnic Kurds who in the past have been supported by the US, not on any principled basis but because they represented a group that may assist US geopolitical objectives. Those objectives are neither singular nor necessarily consistent. They include the often reiterated claim that the “Assad government must go”, a view echoed until recently by the Australian government; although the latter’s statements on anything related to Syria have been markedly muted.
Given the silence of the government, the equally supine stance of the Labor opposition, the complicity of the main stream media and the complete absence of meaningful parliamentary debate about Australia’s foreign policy misadventures for and on behalf of the fading US imperium, it is difficult to discern quite what the Australian policy actually is. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. The North Korean situation requires a different policy
It is said that one definition of insanity is to repeat the same process over and over again and expect a different result. That axiom was never truer than when it is applied to United States and Australian policy towards North Korea. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. The Syrian Denouement nears despite Australia’s unwanted and illegal presence
The Australian government is a regular citer of what it calls the “rules based international order.” When it calls on other countries to desist from behaviour of which it disapproves. The recitation is frequently applied to the South China Sea where the Australian government disapproves of what it calls “Chinese assertiveness” in the region. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL: Requiem for a democracy
The Australian Security agencies have asked again for further powers to enable them to prevent terrorist attacks. Among the requests made are for extended detention powers, increasing the time a “terror suspect” can be detained without charge from 14 to 28 days. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. The South China Sea and the risk of war: a summary.
It is self-evident that the risk of war is not confined to the South China Sea. In fact, the risk of war there is probably less than in other significant flash points around the world. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. American blueprints for war pose an existential threat to Australia.
The recent statement by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to the effect that on defence issues Australia and the United States were “joined at the hip” raises the serious question of how far Australia will actually go in support of the United States as it embarks on one foreign policy misadventure after another? A possible change of government in Australia after the next election will not make any appreciable difference. The Labor leadership is always quick to ensure minimum daylight between themselves and the Coalition whenever yet another pledge of fealty to the Americans is made. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. Australia and North Korea: Dangerous Illusions Place Australia at Risk
The war of words between North Korea and the United states reached new heights last week. US President trump pledged to meet any further threats by North Korea to the US “with fire and fury like the world has never seen”. North Korea’s response was a threat to vaporize Guam, a US colony and important military base in the Pacific. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. Germany’s Ostpolitik in the Modern Era
Germany recognises that there is a fundamental shift in the economic, political and military balance of power to the east. It is now flexing its political muscle to match its economic might.
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JAMES O’NEILL. Lessons from Mosul: Double Standards, War Crimes and Lack of Accountability
Lest week the Iraqi government announced that Mosul has been ‘liberated ‘ from the control of ISIS. The major campaign for Mosul’s liberation began in October 2016 when the US led coalition massively increased both bombing raids and artillery attacks that had in fact been going on since ISIS captured the city in 2014. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. The Belt and Road Initiative and Australian Foreign Policy: A Golden Opportunity
The Australian Cabinet recently turned down an opportunity to join the world’s greatest infrastructure project. The rhetoric and the approach disclose much about how Australia is failing to adjust to the realities of the 21st Century. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. More to the Manchester Attack than the Media Would Have us Believe
The terrorist attack in Manchester where 22 people, including children, were killed and scores were injured, many critically, provoked an understandable sense of outrage into how and why this could happen. The answer to that question unfortunately has been to repeat the half-truths and stereotypes that have followed each of the terrorist attacks in western cities in recent years. (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. The Ongoing Disaster of Australia’s Policy in Afghanistan
According to a recent news report Australia is “open” to a request from the United States for more troops to be sent to Afghanistan. According to the report, Australian troops “mostly work in a training and support role aimed at strengthening the Afghan force’s ability to protect their own country.” “It is important,” said Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, “that we work together to build up the capacity of Afghanistan’s own security forces so that they can keep that country secure from the threat of terrorism.” (1) (more…)
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JAMES O’NEILL. Just Who Does Pose the Greater Threat in Korea?
The election of Donald Trump as US President has seen the ramping up of US rhetoric about North Korea. Trump recently demanded that China should use its influence with the North Koreans and if China did not intervene, then, according to an interview Trump gave to the UK Financial Times, the “US would act alone.” (more…)