‘It may be dangerous to be America’s enemy, but to be America’s friend is fatal’. This quip, attributed to Henry Kissinger (well-known American diplomat, bureaucrat and alleged war criminal) almost 60 years ago, came to mind as I read David Lowe’s timely article, ‘Who should decide when Australia goes to war’ (The Echo, 1 April).
The fact that the Albanese government was the first, and one of the few governments around the world to publicly and enthusiastically support the illegal US/Israeli war in Iran shocked and angered me. When will we ever learn?
Since the 1960s, we have actively supported American wars in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria and thoroughly integrated Australia into the American war machine through spending hundreds of billions of dollars on military exercises, armaments, joint military and intelligence bases and the AUKUS pact.
So, we shouldn’t be surprised that we have once again proven to be a vassal of the US, according to world-renowned economist Professor Jeffrey Sachs.
Albanese’s recent address to the nation was full of vacuous chatter on confronting challenges ‘the Australian way’ and a denial that Australia was directly involved in the American/Israeli war in Iran. Yet his government supported it and has done nothing to stop it. It has not spoken out about the fundamental illegality and injustice of this war, and bears some responsibility for the social and economic tsunami it has unleashed.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
