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Anti-war protests are growing everywhere
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DARWIN,
Australia, October 5 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - The top secret
Australian-U.S. Pine Gap military intelligence facility was sealed off
Saturday, October 5, as hundreds of demonstrators gathered to protest
against Australian involvement in a U.S. orchestrated war in Iraq.
Australian Police placed a roadblock at the main entrance to the
communications gathering facility in northern Australia and ordered a
group of protesters who parked a bus across the access road to move to
an authorized camp site, reported Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Pine Gap, a key part of the U.S. communications satellite network, was
reported to have played an important role in the 1991 Gulf War and could
be expected do so again in the event of another U.S. attack on Iraq.
Police established the roadblock about two kilometers (1.25 miles) from
the front gate of Pine Gap, allowing only authorized vehicles to pass.
"From this point, protesters can walk through to the gate at Pine
Gap," Northern Territory Police Commander Gary Manison said.
"People have a right to protest, and we will protect that right as
long as their actions are lawful.
"But just as people have a right to protest, those employed at the
base also have a right to travel freely to and from work, and police
will be working to facilitate this."
Protest organizers have been working with police to come to agreement on
a number of issues, such as camping spots and roadblocks.
Police said some of the demonstrators had already set up camp in the
designated camping zone, but land on both sides of it had been declared
off limits.
An alliance of activists from extreme left wing groups,
environmentalists and pacifists, threatened this week to breach the
perimeter fence of the site during their protest.
Melbourne-based organizer Jacob Grech said the fence had been breached
in the past by protesters, and he believed a violent clash with armed
U.S. guards was a possibility in the post-September 11 environment.
"But because the situation is so urgent and so intense, people are
feeling very passionate about drawing attention to Australia's current
role in the attack on Iraq and are willing to take greater risks,"
he said.
On
Friday, October 4, hundreds of demonstrators converged on the remote
military base in Australia's outback.
More than 500 protestors were expected at the Pine Gap facility and
could try to breech the base's perimeter fence during three days of
demonstrations set to begin Saturday, said Grech.
"Opposition to a war against Iraq is growing and we aim to expose
where Australia's main contribution to the war is now and will be - and
that is Pine Gap," said Hannah Middleton, spokeswoman for the
Australian anti-bases campaign coalition which is organizing the
protest.
"Pine Gap is being used now for monitoring, communications and
target selection," she said. "It has been used during the past
decade to provide target information for the almost weekly U.S. and UK
bombing raids on Iraq."
The conservative government of Australian Prime Minister John Howard has
been one of the staunchest supporters of the hard-line U.S. stance on
dealing with Iraq's suspected weapons of mass destruction.
Howard is expected to contribute troops to any U.S.-led attack on
Baghdad.
Defense Minister Robert Hill described Pine Gap, which he visited in
August, as a central element of Australia’s alliance with the United
States.
"The intelligence collection and missile early warning roles of the
joint facility are valuable to Australia’s own national interests, as
well as to maintain international security generally and the avoidance
of global war," he said.
The Australian Financial Review newspaper reported Friday that the U.S.
wants Australian special forces to fight in the early phase of a
military campaign against Iraq.
