My condolences to the People of Australia

My warnings to the women of Australia, especially northern Australia

Today’s visit of US President Barack Obama’s to your country and his announcements to your government to deploy 2,500 US Marines to northern Australia put the people of Australia, especially women in northern Australia, in grave danger.  While I understand that Australia has its own military, allow me to suggest that no state military approximates the danger of the US military in the world today.

First of all allow me to point out that because the US invasion and occupation of Iraq and Afghanistan are war crimes and violate both the Geneva Conventions and the United Nations Charter, it has been necessary for the US military to train its soldiers and marines in preventive killing (i.e. murder). As you can imagine, young recruits many of whom are unemployed and others who are seeking to gain access to a college education do not sign up for such barbaric fighting. Therefore to train its recruits to kill without remorse while convincing them that they are defending their county, the USA, brainwashing techniques are employed by the US military as I document in Unmaking War, Remaking Men. 

In their training, US soldiers and Marines trained to believe that are superior to ordinary (American) civilians. This is part of their training for remorseless killing as believing in their own superiority aids young recruits in justifying their behavior in combat which ranges from remorseless to preventive killing.  Now think about it Australians – if US Marines understand that they are superior to American civilians, what do you expect of them while they are in Australia.

I ask you urgently to consult with your Pacific neighbors, especially in the Philippines, and the decades it took them to free their soil of US troops.  The Coalitions Against Trafficking in Women – Asia Pacific would be a good place to start in Manila. Learn how Philippine women were reduced to prostitution for US soldiers and Marines.  When the Marines finally shipped out, they were trafficked to countries like your own for prostitution.   

Before it is too late, please consider the risks of your country and especially your women to having US military deployed on your land.


Respectfully,

Kathleen Barry, Ph.D.

Professor Emerita of Pennsylvania State University

Author: Unmaking War, Remaking Men (Australia: Spinifex 2010)