Tuesday, November 28, 2006

AWB Scandal, Corruption

The report on the AWB is out. In all the hoo ha that will erupt, I think what will be missed is the fact that AWB was a government department to begin with. Nobody doubts that the AWB bribed Saddam Hussein whilst Australia was war with Iraq. And my point is that nobody will question the governments' foresight to privatize the AWB upon discovering the extent of the corruption involved. What a clever way to wash its hands of the whole dirty business than to offload a government department to the corporate sector. Same bunch of crooks doing business as usual - now separated from the government - they continued to operate as before, maybe with more freedom than they had as bureaucrats, they operated as corporate cowboys.
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12 comments:

Little Lamb said...

These blogs can be very educational. I didn't know you were at war with Iraq.

so how do you feel about the war the U.S. is having with Iraq?

11:03 am
Lexcen said...

Lamb, I'm surprised you are unaware of the significance the USA puts on having moral support in the war in Iraq. Australia,UK and other nations do provide military support even if it is only a token gesture. It is the moral support that really counts.
As far as your question regarding the war in Iraq. I think it is a strategic disaster. The US made a mistake in letting Rumsfeld run the strategy side, wars are for generals not bureaucrats with their personal agenda. It's not the first time the US has committed itself to war with one hand tied behind its back, that is, pre-occupations with minimizing casualties and relying on high technology was a failed method in Vietnam. It has come back to haunt the US after so many years of chaos in Iraq and such a tragedy of over 3000 casualties of US forces since the "victory". If anybody accuses me of being a warmonger, then let me say that I was amongst those who protested against the Vietnam war. Today, the civilized world faces a threat from an ideology and not a single nation. It is a much harder battle, that will cost us much in individual rights and freedoms but the alternative is much too horrible to contemplate. This is why I push the agenda on Muslims on my blog. I feel the need to spread the information available and make people aware of the sinister threat that is embodied in a radical ideology that is born and nurtured within the religion of Islam. Saddam Hussein was only one of many dictators that sponsored terrorism and his removal was a first strike in the war on terror. There are others still active in the middle east.

6:31 pm
none said...

The folks that took illegal oil money and traded weapons and materiel with Saddam throughout the sanctions period are in my opinion the lowest of the low.

Frace, Germany, Russia and now Australia decided to profit by trading weapons and technology to a known international despot.

Disgusting.

7:02 pm
Little Lamb said...

I don't feel we should have gone to war with Iraq. Who are we to say who can rule another country? I don't think Saddam was even thinking about attacking the U.S. He was not an immediate threat.

11:04 pm
Travel Italy said...

Lexcen I always find it interesting that the underlying theme, usually not the dominant one, in every scandal or problem is the Collusion between Business and Government, no matter what the nation be.

I guess this is the reason that I can read an Australian blog and think we are talking about the disasterous loss of freedoms here in the US. Joe worker is under attack across the free world.

1:10 am
Lexcen said...

Lamb, you're correct, Saddam wasn't an "immediate" threat to the US. If Bush revealed the real reason for attacking Iraq, then he would never get any support for the Invasion.

David, the collusion between business and government was the reason for Germany's success in developing into and industrialized nation as was the collusion in Japan that enabled it to become a major world player. What you and I are really against is CORRUPTION. This is a weakness in the democratic system. Accountability is essential. If governments are corrupt then it is democracy that is failing us. If the average person is being screwed by corporations and governments it is democracy that is at fault. I don't have the answers to the problem. It seems that the core values of a democracy have been eroded such that voters and their power at the ballot box has become subservient to much more powerful forces. This is why the interests of Joe Citizen are being ignored. In the US as well as Australia, the two party political system gives the voter a choice between Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. Neither has the interests of Joe Citizen at heart.

6:27 am
Little Lamb said...

I've been told its a religious war by someone and I disagree with that. I've also been told by my email pal in England Bush wants to secure the oil that they have.

9:03 am
Lexcen said...

Lamb, there was no need to go to war with Iraq just to secure their oil. They were more than happy to sell it.
The real reason for the war on Iraq was to wage war on Islam. Do you
think that anyone would have supported Bush in Europe,Australia,Asia, if this was openly declared? What about Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria? All these Muslim countries would be outraged if Bush declared war on Islam. So the next best thing was to create a different reason to declare war. Yes Saddam was a tyrant who mass murdered his people. But that wasn't a reason to depose him, there are many tyrants who are never threatened by the US and others who are put there as puppets by the US. Weapons of mass destruction? - yes and no. Anthrax is a weapon of mass destruction as much as nuclear weapons are. It is easy to destroy a couple of vials of anthrax and eliminate evidence as opposed to destroying nuclear weapons. It doesn't matter, the real reason will only be uncovered by historians some day in the future if there is any future for us.

7:59 pm
Little Lamb said...

You're right. He says he wants the world free, like we are. It is not up to the U.S. to decide how everyone on rhe whole planet lives their lives. They may not want what we have. I feel it's up to them, not us.

9:57 pm
Travel Italy said...

I see the collusion in the cyclical nature of things. All things try to reach the medium but in the effort we arrive at extremes. Balance is the key. Although it may seem that I am against Corps that is not the case, I am against the extreme corporate influence and the shortsightedness of those involved.

12:02 am
Kirsten N. Namskau said...

I agree with little lamb. What is freedom for one person / nation is not necessary freedom for another.
Saddam Hussain was claimed to kill some shia-muslims (or was it Sunni-muslims?) in 1982. Will those who burned to death those fanatic muslims last week also be hanged? Or that was maybe OK, because that was done in the name of Democracy... "let people have the freedom to kill."

1:21 am
Lexcen said...

Kirsten, don't confuse Justice with revenge.

6:01 am

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