Ill-informed pollies and journalists undermine our war efforts
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Reactions to the recent combat deaths of two Australian Diggers in Afghanistan again demonstrate serious problems in how we decide to initiate, fight and end our wars. Complex strategic problems such as war fighting require complex solutions forged in sustained and informed debate. But instead we mainly have spasmodic, generally ill-informed and at times even defeatist interchanges, most notably at the fortunately few times when our Diggers are killed defending us. Emotional moments are not conducive to informed public debate about anything. Nor indeed is it appropriate to argue about our wars, especially insensitively or simplistically, while the families and friends of our fallen Diggers are initially grieving their loss. The underlying problem is that Australian society and our political mechanisms have now largely forgotten how to wage war and debate the options and consequences involved responsibly. Most Australians think about defence matters only on Anzac Day and only in an historical or commemorative sense, rather than drawing contemporary or future strategic lessons. Most mainstream media coverage of defence matters is by generalist reporters, political columnists and academics rather than by specialised and qualified journalists (as occurs, for example, in economics, business and science matters). Consequently the quality generally hovers between poor and appalling, although some coverage by Australian foreign correspondents in the Middle East and Afghanistan is very good. In Afghanistan we are fighting our first war since 1940 without an in-country ABC bureau. More generally, no Australian media organ now deploys war correspondents, especially ones able to stay in the country concerned or accompany our troops long enough to understand complex situations properly. Australia’s modern wars are also fought by a small, voluntarily recruited, professional military, not by the large, mass-volunteer and conscripted forces that still resonate in national folk memory each Anzac Day. Unlike even Vietnam, where conscription (if not usually war) involved the families of around one in 40 male 20-year olds, only some 18,000 of Australia’s six million families now have an immediate family member serving in an overseas war zone each year. The vast majority of Australians simply no longer have any personal experience of military service or war. Moreover, there is usually little or no second or third-hand experience even in extended families or broader communities. Common sense judgements about current wars from the parents and grandparents who fought or lived through previous wars are generally no longer available in most family, social and electoral discussions. Discussion about our wars on most blog sites and on talkback radio, for example, is more often than not beset by ignorance, ideology, prejudice and abuse. Experience of war was also widespread in parliament and in Cabinet until the mid 1970s, but the last war-veteran minister was Tim Fischer (1996-99). Out of 226 federal parliamentarians, Mike Kelly, Parliamentary Secretary for Defence, is now the only war veteran (Somalia and Iraq) — and the first one in the Defence portfolio since Lance Barnard in 1974. His opposition shadow, Stuart Robert, is the only one in parliament with peace-keeping experience (Bougainville). Thirteen parliamentarians have at least peace-time military service, but 11 only as reservists, mostly for short periods, long ago, in very junior ranks. Joe Ludwig, the sole long-time reservist officer, is the only cabinet minister. Bill Shorten, who served briefly in a university regiment, is the outer ministry’s only example. Over the past decade our governments have often had to decide about using military force in East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. While not doubting good intentions, how well do modern cabinet ministers and their political, bureaucratic and academic advisers really appreciate what going to war, and prosecuting war, really mean and need? And has partisan advantage always been subsumed to the real national interest appropriately — and to any government’s responsibility not to endanger the men and women of the ADF unnecessarily? As ill-informed public debate regularly shows — and unlike our forebears who learned the hard way about deterring, fighting and winning wars — most Australians across parliament, the bureaucracy, the media and the electorate seem to have forgotten 10 of war’s key lessons:
Furthermore, in a globalised world our web-literate enemies now readily monitor our domestic arguments and spread misinformation and propaganda to undermine our national will directly. Any opining that a war might be “unwinnable” or “wrong” therefore needs to be done responsibly and objectively, not in reckless ignorance or ideological indifference to the safety of our troops and Australia’s national interests. Much Australian media coverage of our wars lacks such senses of perspective or responsibility. Finally, limiting our real war aim in Afghanistan to supposed “alliance maintenance” is not a winning strategy in any sense and is not a cause worth dying for. Especially when our over-burdened US ally is increasingly exasperated by such buck-passing anyway, it does not reassure the Afghans we are helping, it perpetuates a risky combat status quo for our troops on the ground, and is suggested by theorists and politicians never called on to do the dying. |
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7 Comments
Australia’s war effort in Afghanistan is not being undermined by ‘ill-informed pollies and journalists’ but by being an unjustified invasion of another country. ‘Our Diggers’ are not being killed ‘defending us’ but while propping up a corrupt and undemocratic regime.
The whole thing reads like extremely poorly written WWII propaganda: “Don’t argue about the war; if you do then the evil Bosch will kill our poor diggers fighting to defend our safety … in the middle east.”
I particularly liked “Complex strategic problems such as war fighting”. A true Dr Strangelove statement, that one.
Neil James clearly does not read commentary from overseas journalists and experts in papers like The Independent or the New York Review of Books or The Nation (much less excellent coverage in Tom Englhardt’s TomDispatch). If he imagines the “reporting” of our gutless press is anti-war then he should look elsewhere (try also, for example, Le Monde Diplomatique). In typical conservative fashion he fantasises about an Australian media enemy of war that simply does not exist. He is, however, right about one thing - the public does not like the war. And that is despite the lies they have been fed by our media. How many Afghan civilian deaths have been reported (properly reported) in the Australian press? How extensively has the American air war been covered or the continued use of rendition and torture and assassinations? Mr. James is worried that our current breed of politicians has not had the experience of fighting in war. I worry that most of them do not learn the lessons of history. We have heard it all before with regard to Vietnam. Defence Minister Faulkner suggested the other day that the tide was turning in Afghanistan. The ghost of McNamara lurks ominously. How about “we seek no wider war” (drones in Pakistan?), just another boost in troop numbers ( 500,000 perhaps?), a surge or two more, another strategic assassination, winning just a few more hearts and minds. When will we ever learn?
Comments on a couple of points:
“Wars are ultimately contests of will and end only when one side gives up;” Correct - which is why wars by invading armies against guerillas are rarely successful. The local guerillas just have to survive and pick off a few of the invaders until the latter get sick of it. Qv American War of Independence or Vietnam. Doesn’t just affect democracies either - the Soviets headed home with the tails between their legs from (drum roll…) Afghanistan.
“Well-led national unity is vital and our leaders need to fight with words as well as bullets by explaining why we fight, what is happening and what would happen if we lose;” So why are we fighting in Afghanistan? It was originally about Al-Quaeda originally, wasn’t it. How many explanations are we on now? What actually is happening? (And the truth, please, not the bullsh*t we were given for years in Vietnam). And just what would happen if we lose? The Americans don’t get to run a pipeline seems to be the most serious consequence - the Kazae (sp?) government seems to be as tied up with reactionary forces as the Taliban and is a damn side more corrupt. And the Taliban still controls most of the country.
“All Australians are at war, not just the troops we send to fight, and we all have an enemy that none of us must help;” That is a truly scary sentiment in the context of the Afghanistan invasion! As per Vietnam (again…) if you are against the war and our involvement in it you are helping an enemy of the nation.
“Unless we fight to win it is not morally or operationally sustainable to risk the lives of our Diggers in the first place;” Oh good, how long has this war been going? Define “win” please. As above, difficult to define with guerilla wars - the guerillas just have to survive until the invaders go home to win.
“Our cause must be one worth fighting and dying for at Digger level;”. Yeah, maintaining the alliance. Just like Iraq. Great cause to give your life for, eh?
“Furthermore, in a globalised world our web-literate enemies now readily monitor our domestic arguments and spread misinformation and propaganda to undermine our national will directly. Any opining that a war might be “unwinnable” or “wrong” therefore needs to be done responsibly and objectively, not in reckless ignorance or ideological indifference to the safety of our troops and Australia’s national interests. Much Australian media coverage of our wars lacks such senses of perspective or responsibility.”
Exactly what was said (minus the Web) during the Vietnam war.
From which the author has learnt nothing…
Oh. My. Goodness.
Neil James is not an idiot. But he does get things wrong in this article. Here are three of them:
“All Australians are at war, not just the troops we send to fight, and we all have an enemy that none of us must help;”
Er, no. I am not at war and I do not have an enemy.
“Our cause must be one worth fighting and dying for at Digger level;”
It isn’t.
“When the troops on the ground have a markedly better understanding of the situation than the public back home we have a serious problem.”
I should think, since the troops on the ground are professionals and volunteers, and they are *there*, that they damn well ought to have a markedly better understanding of the situation than the public back home, most of whom did not opt for soldiering as a career, did not volunteer to fight an ill-defined enemy, and never went to Afghanistan.
P.S. Neil James is 100% correct to say that we have a serious problem.
Maybe he should analyse that a bit more closely…
The “overburdened” US ally, is not an ally at all. We just recently finished paying our ww11 debt to them for their assistance but I didn’t notice any offset in costs for us having to train their virtually useless…or worse than useless in some cases…conscripted soldiers, many of whom couldn’t shoot a rifle. We trained them in Qld under the guidance of Australia’s most ignored general, Sir George Wootten, and he then commanded Australian AND US troops and Milne Bay was taken by Australians to the greatest part.
His men to my knowledge never lost a battle and were significant at Alemain. He himself has been given light credit for his most distinguished career and once of great gallantry in WW1; he was the youngest major ever in the British Commonwealth, promoted at galipolli at age 22 and then in France to adjudant at age 23. he was considered the most brilliant man to graduate from Duntroon and to him we owe, and to his brave, Macarthur insulted and wearied soldiers an eternal gratitude…”Once trained he said “the American soldier is as good as any in the world” I will not repeat his comments about their officers and the worst of them in terms of casualties was Macarthur…fortunately Patton was left to extrapolate the war in Europe by a year. Macarthur avoided the battle fronts like the plague and was said to have never ventured closer than 40 miles to one.”sensibe you say”… Why would the enemy kill him, he was single handedly organising the unecessary deaths of some of our very best soldiers.
Both sides of Government, state and federal continue this foppish facade of grovelling to US Presidents and policies and supporting their lies. We went into Vietnam for them and then maltreated our young soldiers because of the exposes about the US forces. We went into the middle east based on lies and the demonisation of Hussein by Israel and the USA..both of whom provoked Hussein through internal covert actions and causing dreadful miscarriages of justice to bring USA to attack Iraq and anihilate Hussein…who had gained the Port they wanterd, for them. The misjudges his ability though and he achieved more than either of them for his people in safety, religious freedom and tolerance,education and equality than existed anywhere else in the Middle east, and perhaps even in the USA. …(and I do not ignore the brutality or evil of his regime, nor of his enemies) … through a shorter period.
He was demonised and lied about by Butler. He twice offered to capitualate post “911” but was denied it. “911” an action in which it is becoming, and I watched the attacks as they happened and was emotionally brutilised, shockingly, quite inescapable that the CIA and Israel were the conspirators, irrespective of the nationality of the false-flagged operators. Doubt exists even to the ownership of the airplanes and certainly the unsupportable evidence used to drive Americans into a war footing, was quickly swept off the set once it was clear the towers were enough..For something in which Huessein had no part, but even if he did nothing excuses that so far over 700,000 Iraqis have been adjudged killed or worse. Over a million were said to have died of hunger and disease since the TV warowing to US based UN sanctions..
Certainly US forces and materiel can be a great asset to us but that doesn’t mean, surely, that we have to engage our men in”practice runs” to become hardened to death and destruction simply because USA puts the bite on our government. We hear about “they will not help us if we don’t help them” well….as USA provokes most of the major theatres of war since WW11 , and its early days of WW11 are an utter disgrace in every area including the turning away of thousands of jewish refugees and in the huge investments made in the German war machine by very significant people….one might ask whether refusing to help might not be the better course.
This brings me to Israel, of which the USA is a satellite and for whom ultimately our forces are fighting. The Australian government pays homage to the zionist nation in which scores of thousands of jews protest, much unreported, at the Government atrocities towards Palestinians.Thousands refuse to serve against Palestinians…but you’d never know it…including the Mossad’s chief’s daughter. Our Government supported the atrocities of Benzoin Mikelowski (Netenyahu was never his name, nor his father’s name I read recently in a french submision) excusing them as self defence, a ludicrous if not ignorant assertion but one almost word for word from Mark Frieberg,(who calles himself “Regev”…)
Again I learned recently from the internet that Mark Frieberg is an australian aborignial activist posing as a Jewish person for one reason or another and spreading the Israeli lies throughout the media…None of the media seem to have any knowledge that not only was Mikelowski regarded, by contacts in US whitehouse, as a person who can’t tell the truth about anything, the only relaiable thing about him is that he is a liar ..or that our very own Melbourne boy Mark Frieberg is included with him but…….. are they exposed by our Governments in verse and rote as are Mulsim activists?…the answer is “no”.We, the people, must not be allowed to realise the truth.The truth is an enemy.
The warmongering our governments support actually kills innocent people…does that affect anyone? Israel’s dark history of 63 years of genocide and its even darker history of collaboration during WW11 is in my view deliberately obfuscated so as to maintain the fantasy that we are the ‘goodies” and everyone else’s state of grace depends on where the American “axis of evil” compass point at any given time….
I’ll stand up for this country against anyone, fight anyone who seeks to bring us down, fight against anyone trying to breach our security or spy on us or use us as a base for committing crimes against humanity …but I will not support, or say nothing of, the murder of innocents, the torture , the TV entertainment of seeing slaughter of people whether Arab, Israeli, African, el Salvadorean or anyone else..and I am appalled that Neill James, who is no more Australian than I am, goes to bat for saying “we are at war”…we are NOT at war.
Are we, … looking back over the last 65 years of supporting UN, the USA and Israel one step closer to peace?…or in fact is peace even our political goal? ….or should I ask is peace really the goal of those we serve?
Does anyone recall the recent doco on the Australian female soldier who made it very obvious that in their efforts to escape a war zone, that the Israeli air force, knowing they were UN peacekeepers made every effort to entertain themselved frustrating their (agreed) escape with lethal weaponry until when she was injured and fortunately extracted…Israel soon after dropped a 1000 tonne bomb on the clearly marked UN post, killing all the UN personel Has anyone reading this read the story of the USS Liberty conspiracy? How long do we have to back sociopathic killers instead of demanding political debate be openly engaged in, with those whose whom we are told, are our enemies?
I DO however support Neil’s stance that few of our politicians have any experience with the ADF…which in fact makes them vulnerable. I am not a pacifist and savage fighting is not something I have not engaged in ….nevertheless, or perhaps because of my children and theirs, I also hope that one day we will have a world where NO politician has experience with the ADF in battle, only in creating greater assets for our them universal peace and aiding ourselves and others in times of calamity.It’s up to us…do we sit like dummies accepting all governmetns conspire to do or do we say “you serve us, not e you, We’ll pay our taxes and obey the laws but if you think that when elected we’ll commit crimes against humanity for you…don’t bother standing for election because you WILL be brought to answer for it.