Images above: Muslim women in Melbourne
http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/boyerlectures/2015-09-27/6669044#transcript
The 21st century is not the time to dissemble; it is not the time to be partisan without regard to history, without regard to the facts, and without regard to the best of human values in all peoples. Australia is not the predominantly Anglo-Saxon society it was; it is no longer appropriate to have an uncritical loyalty to the US or the UK based on a common language and aspects of our heritage, traditions and history we have in common. etc.
This reference by Dr Fullilove to post-war history would be a perfect time to note that the first successful military coup orchestrated by the CIA was in Syria in March 1949. Truman was president then, Acheson his Secretary of State. It toppled an elected government and ushered in years of instability.
Deane Hinton, a State Department political officer at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus at the time of the coup, declared, “I want to go on record as saying that this is the stupidest, most irresponsible action a diplomatic mission like ours could get itself involved in, and that we’ve started a series of these things that will never end.”
Ernesto J. Sanchez writes in an article titled, ‘Washington’s Long History in Syria’,
“During the Cold War’s early years, the United States tried to overthrow the Syrian government in one of the most sustained covert-operations campaigns ever conducted.”
Also, in this lecture, without specific mention of MH-17, Michael Fullilove asserts Vladimir Putin’s proxies shot aircraft out of the sky. Where are the facts for this assertion? Dr Fullilove is presumably alluding to MH-17, yet no investigation has attributed blame for the shooting down of the plane. As veteran US investigative reporter Robert Parry reminds us in his articles, what forces shot down MH-17 remains very contentious. Is Dr Fullilove referencing the claims of the US Secretary of State?
It is a dangerous world we live in. We shouldn’t be flying blind. If we choose ever to be partisan it should be the best of common human values and a rigorous search for the truth that guide us.
Below: Images of Syrians before the crisis
susandirgham 