BY CHRIS LATHAM
PERTH On October 2, 80 people attended a forum on "Why war?" at the Fremantle Hotel, organised by the Fremantle branch of the ALP. The meeting was addressed by local federal MP Carmen Lawrence and WA Legislative Council member Louise Pratt.
Pratt explained that her views about whether or not Australia should join a US-led war on Iraq is informed by her participation in the refugees' rights campaign. "The plight of refugees is a reason to avoid entering the war", she stated.
Lawrence pointed out that a war will bring a massive loss of civilian lives, will add to the tension in the Middle East and will result in increased repression by the regimes in the region against their own people. "War on Iraq would be a major departure from accepted international practice", she said. An attack on Iraq would be an attack "against a sovereign state, an internationally recognised government and a member of the UN. If the attack occurs without authorisation from the UN, then it would open it up for other states to act accordingly".
Lawrence asked whose interests a regime change in Iraq would serve. "It's a dubious proposition that the removal of Saddam Hussein will bring democracy to Iraq. The only time [the Iraqi people tried to rebel in 1991], the US supported the regime to put it down", Lawrence pointed out.
In discussion time, many were critical of ALP leader Simon Crean's refusal to oppose war against Iraq. ALP members also expressed concern that the WA Labor government was supporting bids to establish a supply base for US military forces in WA, which would be used to support US war efforts.
Others urged federal Labor to genuinely oppose the war, rather than "fudge" the issue in the same way it has with the issue of refugees. A question was asked about what real opposition to war would involve: is it enough to vote against war in parliament or should the ALP's infrastructure and influence be used to build a mass campaign against the war that takes to the streets?
In reply to this question, Lawrence and Pratt suggested that their offices would be available to anti-war activists.
From Green Left Weekly, October 16, 2002.
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