Downer's Dog Days

Poor Alexander Downer! His leash has been cut, he's about to receive the political equivalent of a snip from the vet, and everyone's trying to put him down.

It's bad enough that through the demise of the Bush Administration's power supply he's just been demoted from alsatian to poodle, but now that the the Democrats are about to control the US' own Australian Wheat Bribe investigations, he's just lost the "flea collar" of ministerial non-accountablility that he buried in Commissioner Terence Cole's terms of reference. No matter what Cole says when he hands down his findings in the next few weeks, Downer is about to be judged by the US Congress. Where Cole can't find Downer guilty of participating in one of the more heinous war crimes of the Iraq invasion. Democrat congressmen can, and probably will, banish him from the international political arena as punishment for his crimes.

Of particular interest to new inquiry chairmen is the Republican response to Australian requests to provide a smokescreen before the last Australian Federal election. Australian ambassador to the US Michael Thawley made a quiet plea that the investigation into Australian corruption be shelved to avoid any pre-poll embarrassment to PM Howard, and Bush's henchmen were happy to comply. Thawley was rewarded for his act of heroism by being made a Vice President of a mult-billion dollar pension fund.

I'll be interested to see how Thawley conducts himself in this matter. Will he fall on his sword by saying that it was his own idea to intercede, or will he reveal the chain of communication from Howard and Downer that would show the US public exactly who the war criminals are in this matter?

With another Australian election on the horizon, the likelihood of the matter being swept under the rug again is extremely negligible. Our PM may face a situation where he has to lose some of his key players in an attempt to maintain political survival. I predict there will be an empty kennel in the back yard a monogrammed bowl that is no longer licked. But late at night, when the moon is full and the wind is blowing in the right direction, perhaps you'll hear a howl.

Scott Parkin vs ASIO... The Winner!

Somebody named FOSP added this to my Houston Indymedia version of the Parkin story.

Yep, if people start getting organised in their protests, the Bush Regime in both countries might indeed have something to fear.

I've just received this from Friends Of Scott Parkin:

Dear Friends-- Very exciting news! Yesterday, Justice Ross Sundberg
granted my lawyers access to the contents of the Australian Security
Intelligence Organization's security assessment which resulted in me
being removed from Melbourne in September last year. Furthermore, it
grants access to the security assessments of my 2 co-plaintiffs, Iraqi
asylum seekers Mohammad Sagar and Muhammad Faisal, who have been in an
Australian detention centre for the past 5 years.

This is a fantastic 1st step towards me clearing my name and
winning the freedom for my co-plaintiffs, but we still have a long way
to go as the legal battle is only beginning.

We need funds to keep the legal challenge and political campaign going.

Please donate to support the campaign by visiting http://scottparkin.org/give.htm.

Also this is a very small list and forwarding this message to your ends and communities would be a great help.

his has been a long process, but I want to thank everyone for all
their support over the past year. It has meant so much to my and my
family.

Peace,

Scott Parkin

Scott Parkin Wins !!! Federal Court Rules Documents Released

Australian Federal Court Backs Halliburton Protester Scott Parkin

The Australian Federal Court has announcedoday that deported activist Scott Parkin does have a right to know why ASIO deported him. The court has granted Parkin access to the ASIO documentation used in his negative security classification.

On the day before Septemberr 11 last year Parkin was arrested and placed in solitary confinement amidst claims he was a violent activist. He was portrayed in Australian September 11 media as a threat to Australian security. Newsweek reported in January that the Pentagon had kept a file on Parkin handing out sandwiches as a protest for Halliburton's food charges in Iraq. It is likely Australian intelligence agency ASIO declared that Parkin was a potentially violent activist on the strength of this file's existence, though it's unknown if ASIO were allowed to read it.

Parkin told Australian ABC Radio today that he'd be "..thrilled to come back to Australia." and that he feels he has been vindicated.

Spy agency ASIO can still appeal to the High Court, and if this fails Australian Attorney General Phillip Ruddock can still have the information witheld under grounds of national security.

Why The Kovco Inquiry Findings Were Delayed

Why The Kovco Inquiry Findings Were Delayed

I've got a theory as to why the inquiry findings into the death of Private Jake Kovco are not being released till next year. In both Australia and the US sentiment against the war in Iraq has never been higher, and the control of US Congress may be decided on this issue, as it might in Australia next year.

The circumstances surrounding Kovco's death are being considered unfortunate by some and negligent by others. Testimonies have referred to the inappropriate cleaning up of evidence and confusion in details of evidence by comrades in close proximity. Then there's the accidental switching of bodies that led to the remains of a deceased Bosnian contractor being flown to Australia instead of the fallen soldier.

That the information has been witheld in a case such as this, in which so many people are concerned as to what might have transpired, shows the concern of our military and government that the current political climate is considered inappropriate to divulging "sensitive" data, and also that the release of information regarding events of the war in Iraq in being very carefully controlled by military and government propagandists.