Gallipoli 1915 ---- Winston Churchill wanted to knock the Ottoman Empire out of
the war. Plan A, a naval attack on the Dardanelles, failed. Plan B was a landassault. So, on 25 April, about 25,000 Australian and New Zealand soldierslanded at Anzac Cove. Many were mown down by Turkish guns on the very first day. By the time of the evacuation nearly nine months later, the debacle had cost56,000 lives on the allied side and another 56,000 on the Turkish. The GallipoliCampaign was one of the many crimes in the much larger crime that was World WarI, a clash of two rival imperial alliances squabbling over territory, coloniesand resources. Over 17 and a half million people, civilian and military, died forthe wealth and power of their ruling classes.Australia 2022 ---- The players have changed, but the game continues. Australiancapitalism benefits from US hegemony. It sends troops to Uncle Sam's wars, takesits side internationally and, in return, gets to police the South Pacific andTimor Leste. No single power comes close to the US, but its share of the worldeconomy has been in continual decline. It is now less than 25%. China'seconomy, is already almost 80% that of the US and growing more strongly. It isan unprecedented threat. With a population four times that of the US, Chinacould have an economy twice as large with half its per capita GDP. The US isdrawn to rely on its military strength to shore up what it cannot defend in themarketplace. AUKUS is an alliance formed to keep China subservient to the US andensure the Pacific Ocean remains an American lake, but only the ever-dependableAustralia and the increasingly irrelevant Britain have signed on. Thecountries of South-East Asia, despite their dislike of recent Chinese policy, areconspicuous by their absence.A Rude AwakeningJust last week the Australian Government was surprised by the announcement of amilitary agreement between China and the Solomon Islands. Australia'simperialist sphere of interest in the South Pacific has been disrupted. Acouple of similar agreements in the region could dismantle it. After decades ofaid cuts and a climate policy likely to submerge more than one Pacific islandnation, Australian power has become fragile. It could be easily shattered by arising power which promises more generous support and survivable climateoutcomes. Soon the Australian navy may be too busy nearby to help the US containthe Chinese navy in the South and East China Seas.Anzac DayAustralia's militaristic national myth was founded on the Gallipoli landing. Thedead Anzacs are conscripted for service in all of Australia's wars. They havesanctified Australian imperialism in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan. This year,the national commemoration of the Anzacs will be in the service of the developingconflict with China and the drive to war. It must not be uncontested.NO AUKUSEND ANZAC DAYMelbourne Anarchist Communist Grouphttp://www.melbacg.wordpress.commacg1984@yahoo.com.auPO Box 5108 Brunswick North 3056 /https://melbacg.wordpress.com/2022/04/25/anzac-day-2022_________________________________________A - I N F O S N E W S S E R V I C EBy, For, and About AnarchistsSend news reports to A-infos-en mailing listA-infos-en@ainfos.ca
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