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| U.S. Defense Secretary Rumsfeld and Australian PM Howard at Feb. 2003 press conference |
The following letter from Australian anti-war and Latin American solidarity activist Joan Coxsedge--who is also a former member of the Victoria state parliament--originally appeared in an Australian-Cuban solidarity group's newsletter.
"November 26, 2017
"Dear Comrades,
“The end of the year and Christmas, with the inevitable hype
to buy more ‘stuff’, a ritual commercialized binge with precious little good
will, but especially tough for those living on the margins. And not too flash
for the rest of us if we have a conscience.Barely a day goes by without news of
the latest religious-based outrage or ‘natural’ calamity hitting the poorest
and most vulnerable.
“I couldn’t face a ‘normal’ Christmas this year so what’s
left of our family is going to a pub. I reckon it’s a good idea for all
activists to switch off for a few days to give our overwrought minds and bodies
a break, spending time with family and friends and a drink (or two) to talk
frankly and nut out what we can do. As George Orwell said: ‘If liberty means anything
at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear.’ And
spare a coin for those with nowhere to live.
“There’s certainly plenty to get cranky about, both at home
and abroad. How disgraceful that war criminal John Howard is on the record for
regretting nothing about his time as PM, even for his part in the destruction
of Iraq, whereas ex-British PM Gordon Brown at least has the grace to claim
that Britain had been ‘hoodwinked’ and ‘duped’ by the yanks into joining that
despicable war, especially by that monstrous former defense chief Donald
Rumsfeld.
“A recently released secret US intelligence report has cast
doubts of ‘WMD claims’ as if we didn’t already know. Many Brits now believe that
Blair should be prosecuted as a war criminal for his role in the catastrophe,
but no-one here suggests the same for Howard, which doesn’t say much for us.
There was one dissenting voice against the WMD claim, Dr David Kelly, and look
what happened to him.
“Dr Kelly had worked as a senior weapons inspector at the
British Ministry of Defense and knew a great deal about Iraq’s weapons systems.
He voiced his concerns to the BBC anonymously, stating that the intelligence
was being manipulated, but his cover was blown as the source of its report. In
July 2003, the 59-year-old British expert was found dead in a lonely wooded
area in Oxfordshire. ‘Suicide’ officialdom claimed. ‘In a pig’s ear’, was the
public response, backed up by the ambos who were first on the scene and stated
categorically that Dr Kelly had not been killed where he was found. He’d been
murdered in another place.
“While Syria, Russia, Iran and Turkey are trying to revamp
peace negotiations, the US prefers war in its quest for greater global
dominance. Pentagon chieftain James Mattis stated that US military forces would
be ‘digging in further on Syrian territory’ and was furious when Turkey
disclosed that the Yankees already have 13 military bases there. The yanks are
also scaling up their presence in Afghanistan and Iraq as part of a regional
buildup with ominous signs that Saudi Arabia and Israel are ramping up
hostility towards Iran and Lebanon, rather like chucking a lighted match into a
petrol tank.
“Washington’s most recent hit list of high priority enemies
to attack, weaken and overthrow are predictable - Russia (too powerful), China
(too powerful), North Korea (has a bomb), Venezuela (too independent), Iran
(too independent), Syria (want to corral it), Cuba (too independent) and
Lebanon - with ‘lower level’ adversaries Bolivia (too independent) and
Nicaragua (too independent) on the waiting list. But the US can carry on all it
likes about Russia’s evil ways and its ‘interference in America’s internal
affairs’, but it cannot counter Russia’s influence in the Middle East nor its
expanding trade with Asia, especially China. Yemen, Cuba, Lebanon, Bolivia and
Syria are more vulnerable.
“The US can push for a total Saudi victory over the
devastated, starving, cholera-stricken people of Yemen, the Arab world’s
poorest country where an appalling humanitarian crisis is taking place. While
not dropping bombs and organizing an invasion like it has in Iraq and Syria,
the US is complicit in Yemen’s destruction by providing intelligence, weaponry
and political and military support to Saudi Arabia. Around 40,000 Yemeni
children have already died this year as a result of severe acute malnutrition
with 130 children dying each day. Where is the international outrage?
“It is always with relief that I turn to Cuba, despite my
concerns about its future with nutcase Trump in the White House, but it seems
to be doing OK. According to a report in Cuba Libre, there is widespread
restoration projects taking place in my beloved Old Havana along with major
works along the Malecon.
“Since the late 1990s, neighborhoods have spawned new small
businesses, barbershops and auto repairs, food stalls, street vendors, along
with the inevitable bars and restaurants, with some ambivalence about the
impact all these individual enterprises are having on the Cuban psyche. A
nudging of social inequality resulting from the increased income for some in a
socialist cultural economy that shares public resources with everyone. Although
I was pleased to read that all small businesses have to be licensed, with a
primary requirement that each venture must provide a social service to their
local neighborhood. In every case, the applicant must meet with local reps to
discuss and agree on what projects will be provided, which will then be
monitored by the local CDR (Committee for the Defense of the Revolution).
“Despite some changes and severe limits on resources, Cuba’s
streets are clean and kids are happy, a nation where Cubans ‘work together,
laugh together and dance together’ while continuing to enjoy free health care,
free education, no rent and affordable public transport and with music and art
in abundance and available to all. That’s my sort of society. Viva Cuba!
“In this madhouse, especially over Christmas, take extra
care on our crazy overcrowded roads…
“Joan Coxsedge”
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