OT : Australian intervention in Solomon Islands

deccan · #1 July 9th, 2003, 04:25 AM

Baron Grazic: Thought I'd make a new thread to avoid annoying people.

Maybe the language that I originally used was too harsh, but these are some of the facts that I'm certain of:

1) The Solomon Islands Parliament is being pressed by the Australian Government to ratify a bill drafted in Canberra that would effectively give Australian troops and police "license to kill" authorizations (i.e. there will be no legal recriminations for any Solomon Islanders killed by OZ personnel.)

2) There will be changes to the laws of the Solomon Islands to allow Australians and New Zealanders to hold government Posts. Effective day-to-day control of government and the country's finances will pass to Australia while the entire bureacracy and system of government is rejigged from the ground up.

3) The intervention force will include such support staff as legal prosecutors and judges so that criminals can be prosecuted and sentenced immediately without waiting for the Solomon Islands judiciary to be rebuilt.

4) There will supposedly be a big military operation on Guadalcanal Island to flush out and capture Harold Keke and his followers.

P.S. The S.I. Parliament held off passing the said bill earlier by not convening, but I just heard on the radio this afternoon that the debate officially started today with an address by the Prime Minister in favor of intervention.

Baron Grazic · #2 July 9th, 2003, 06:20 AM

The man on the ground always knows more than the supports in the stands.
If your facts are acurate (and I'm not saying they aren't) than the Oz govt needs to chill a bit...

What I have heard is the civil unrest in the Solomans, and that the Oz government wants to "ensure peace in the region", because the SI would "become a haven for money laundering, drug trafficking and a terrorist hide-out".

Of course, I'm just stating what I have read in the newspapers.
What have you seen and what are the thoughts of the people in the Solomans?

Rojero · #3 July 9th, 2003, 06:37 AM

With all the chaos in the world, it is sad that everyday it seems to just escalate, as a spieces as a race, I fear the worst.

Baron Grazic · #4 July 9th, 2003, 06:51 AM

I think the world needs something like contact with an alien race, to get us all to co-operate, and even then, I'm not sure it would work...

dogscoff · #5 July 9th, 2003, 09:36 AM

Quote:

trafficking and a terrorist hide-out".

I don't care what they say, western governments love terrorism. It has provided them with a readymade, universal justification to do whatever the hell they like.

narf poit chez BOOM · #6 July 9th, 2003, 09:45 AM

sudden shock can only do so much. you want the world to recover? then hold doors open for people, smile, say 'please', 'thank you' and 'good morning'. don't encourage movie-makers to make movies with excessive sex and violence and espeicailly ones that glorify it. if someone asks for help, give it. do your best to understand the other persons position. respect just laws and the people that enforce them.

no, getting a gun and shooting bad guys will not solve all our problems. not even hard work can garentee that. but that's no excuse not to do the hard work.

there. a short bit of my view on how to save the world.

Loser · #7 July 9th, 2003, 03:19 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by narf poit chez BOOM:
don't encourage movie-makers to make movies with excessive sex and violence and espeicailly ones that glorify it.

I'd have to disagree, Narf. I firmly believe that shaming sex is more of a problem than glorifying it. As long as neither party is objectified (expect for reasons related to artistic expression: Natural Born Killers, Eyes Wide Shut, Thelma and Louise, or Brazil), both parties enjoying the act should be the norm, and protection is emphasized. Being raised Puritan and having experienced just about everything 'the world' has to offer I feel openness requires an avoidance of shame, which requires sex to be as common a topic as it is an activity (and hundreds of thousands are doing it at any time)

What is 'Oz'? Why O-Z?

What is the background of this conflict in S.I.?

What has been happening down there for the Last few years?

tbontob · #8 July 9th, 2003, 04:02 PM

Loser, I agree with you about sex. Repressing it only makes it go underground where it may surface in other ways.

In a broader light...the problems may be a result of our not being willing to consider the brotherhood of man.

If we think a person or a group of people as "other", then it is a short step to the use of force.

About Oz...I was confused about it too some years ago.

Oz = Aus (Australia).

sachmo · #9 July 9th, 2003, 04:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dogscoff:

quote:

trafficking and a terrorist hide-out".

I don't care what they say, western governments love terrorism. It has provided them with a readymade, universal justification to do whatever the hell they like.

Or the first undefeatable enemy in history?

[ July 09, 2003, 15:03: Message edited by: sachmo ]

Q · #10 July 9th, 2003, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by dogscoff:

quote:

trafficking and a terrorist hide-out".

I don't care what they say, western governments love terrorism. It has provided them with a readymade, universal justification to do whatever the hell they like.

May be not all western governments (I believe I live in a country that still puts human rights first before combat against terrorism) but I must agree that some activities of the US government really frighten me more than any terrorist activities. And if deccan is right (I know too little about the political situation in that part of the world) I am worried about that too.