WELLINGTON MARCHES
ON THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF IRAQ
INVASION by Kane O’Connell
Peace Researcher 33 –
November 2006
The third anniversary of Bush, Blair and their
“fellow” imperialists’ invasion of Iraq
was vocally opposed in Wellington
on Saturday 18th March, 2006.
Organised by Peace Action Wellington (PAW), anti-war activists marched from Midland
Park (Lambton Quay) to the US
Embassy in Thorndon, via Parliament and the new Defence
Building – currently being built on
the corner of Mulgrave and Aitken Streets.
The new Defence
Building sits in front of Freyberg
House, currently home to the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB,
which operates the Waihopai and Tangimoana spybases). It has been aptly named
Spyberg House. According to a letter received from the Minister of Defence,
Phil Goff, in response to an Official Information Act request, the cost of
refitting Defence HQ is costing taxpayers $39.5 million. Another wonderful
paradox, among many, of this Labour government, is that Goff is also the
Minister for Disarmament and Arms Control.
The
Trillion Dollar War
Prior to the march’s departure from Midland
Park speeches were delivered by
Maxine Gay (Secretary of the Clothing, Laundry and Allied Workers Union) and
Nick Kelly (President of the Victoria University of Wellington Students’
Association). To quote from Maxine Gay’s speech (with thanks to her for giving
permission):
“Three years of war in Iraq
is three years too many. The amount of money that the US
has pumped into this illegal invasion is phenomenal. Over ONE TRILLION
dollars*. That’s the cost of the war in Iraq,
according to a new report by Nobel Prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz,
formerly of the World Bank, and co-author Linda Bilmes.
“Over ONE TRILLION dollars: • for an illegal invasion
and occupation that has killed more than 100,000 Iraqi children, women and men
- and maimed the bodies and memories of countless thousands more.
“Over ONE TRILLION dollars: • to bankroll an ongoing
war that has cost the lives of more than 2,300 U.S. soldiers and injured over
16,000 - including 7,000 with brain, spinal cord, amputation and other serious
injuries.
“Over ONE TRILLION dollars: • that could have instead
been spent on vital needs in Iraq, the Third World and also within the United States
such as adequate health care, decent affordable housing, quality schools and
job training.
“In this country we cannot hold our heads high in
opposition to this war. Although our Government did not sign up for the actual
invasion it was one of the first countries to offer that wonderful
contradiction of military based humanitarian assistance. Although those
“non-combat” troops have now been withdrawn the Government will still not come
out in complete opposition to the invasion. It wants to curry favour with the US
to try and get a US
economic invasion of this country in the form of a Free Trade Agreement.
“The invasion must end. The war must be stopped. The
Iraqi people must be allowed to live in peace and prosperity. The invasion can
be stopped now. But it will be generations before the wounds and scars of this
invasion can be healed. In the end the Iraqi people may not want our support,
they may believe that the West has already done enough damage. But at least we
can hold them in our thoughts and continue to do what we can to ensure that the
US forces leave
Iraq now and
the US and its
allies do not initiate a new oil war on another country and its people”.
* Of course, the cost of
the war has increased even more in the months since Maxine’s speech. Not to
mention the ever growing human toll of those killed and maimed, both civilians
and military. Ed.
As
with any vocal anti-war demonstration, chants were loud while we marched along to
the beat of the Brass Razoo Solidarity Band. Don Franks, Wellington-based
musician and Workers Party member, spoke outside the construction site of the
new Defence Building.
The march meandered up Mulgrave and Murphy Streets towards the US Embassy. It’s
never easy going against the grain, particularly when it’s cars that have just
driven off the motorway. Chants continued upon arrival at the US Embassy,
followed by further speeches and an open microphone. Soup and bagels, prepared
by Food Not Bombs, followed the speeches.
Wellington’s
Thuggish Cops Put On Their Usual Act
As per usual, the Police and security played their role in protecting the
interests of the New Zealand State
and its very, very good friend, the United
States of America. As the crowd had begun to
dissipate, a Peace Action Wellington member took aim with a red paint filled
water bomb and fired it “spot on” at the US Embassy’s sign. This was a symbolic
message that simply portrayed the blood that the US Government has on its
hands. It was only a matter of minutes before the Police arrested the activist
who threw the water bomb. Attempts for a de-arrest were aborted due to a
combination of back-up Police and a paddy wagon arriving, and the small number
of activists who were still at the US Embassy. The Police, who were mainly part
of Wellington’s Strategic Response Group, performed their usual heavy handed
and brutal act, which included the use of head locks, carotid holds, attacking
pressure points, verbal abuse, pushing anyone in their way with almighty force,
arm twisting, etc.
Five
activists were arrested following the vicious force that was yet again carried
out by the Police. The charges laid against the five activists included
combinations of wilful damage, obstruction, resisting arrest and assaulting
Police. Strict and ludicrous bail conditions were immediately imposed on the
five activists, including non-association and not going within 50 metres of the
US Embassy. However, these conditions were challenged in the High Court within
weeks and were struck down for being in violation of freedom of movement and
association clauses within the Human Rights Act.
Three
activists’ charges were later withdrawn before any court hearing, largely due
to a lack of evidence. One activist, who was charged with assaulting police and
resisting arrest, won his court case. He is now filing a complaint with the
Police Complaints Authority. The activist who threw the red paint filled water
bomb was charged on two accounts of wilful damage. The first was for wilful
damage to the US Embassy and the second for damaging a New Zealand Police
officer’s shirt (i.e. some red paint stains).
The
hypocrisy that an activist is dragged through the New
Zealand court system for throwing a water
bomb’s worth of watery red paint at a concrete wall whereas the US Government
is responsible for the massacre and destruction of many people and their
civilisations, and continues to do so, is blindingly obvious. Yet, it is the
sort of hypocrisy that is all too familiar in this world. The activist was
found not guilty of wilful damage to the US Embassy but was convicted on the
second charge of damaging a New Zealand Police officer’s shirt. She was ordered
to pay $24.10. The Police officer, who probably needs to learn to use a washing
machine, is one Mr Slade Jackson and is now based at Rakaia in South
Canterbury. Another wonderful use of taxpayer dollars was that he
was flown from Christchurch to Wellington
and back, in order to give evidence so that an activist could be convicted for
damaging his shirt.
As
the imperial invasion of Iraq
continues, and the same Western alliance’s blood stained hands remain ever
present in a number of other parts of the world, it is sadly the fourth
anniversary of the invasion into Iraq
that now draws closer. A simple reading of Noam Chomsky, however, provides a
fairly accurate analysis and significant reason for the imperialists’ modus
operandi: “The policies
extend worldwide, and in the Middle East, their significance is enhanced by one
of the leading principles of foreign policy since World War 2 (and for Britain
before that): to ensure control over Middle East energy resources, recognised
for 60 years to be ‘a stupendous source of strategic power’ and ‘one of the
greatest material prizes in world history’” (“On the US-Israeli Invasion of Lebanon”, August 2006, http://www.chomsky.info/articles.htm).
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