Australia warning terrorists
Posted on 12/02/2002 4:20:30 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
Australia warning terrorists
Prime minister backs pre-emptive strikes on neighboring attackers
12/02/2002
SYDNEY, Australia - Prime Minister John Howard said Sunday that he was prepared to act against terrorists in neighboring Asian countries and that the U.N. charter should be changed to allow nations to strike pre-emptively against terrorists planning to attack them.
His comments were opposed by other governments across Asia.
With a modern air force and experienced special forces, Australia has one of the most powerful militaries in its region.
Mr. Howard's comments came as his nation observes how Southeast Asian countries deal with Islamic militants since the Oct. 12 bombings on Indonesia's resort island of Bali. The attack left nearly 200 people dead, almost half of them Australian tourists.
The al-Qaeda-linked terrorist group Jemaah Islamiyah has been blamed for the Bali attacks.
Though dozens of suspected Jemaah Islamiyah operatives have been jailed, many more are still believed to be operational. Australia has boosted security at its embassies overseas and warned that terrorists may also attack within Australia. Last week, Australia closed its mission in the Philippines, citing a specific and credible threat.
"It stands to reason that if you believe that somebody was going to launch an attack on your country, either of a conventional kind or a terrorist kind, and you had a capacity to stop it and there was no alternative other than to use that capacity, then of course you would have to use it," Mr. Howard told Australian television's Channel Nine.
Asked if that meant taking pre-emptive action against terrorists in a neighboring country, Mr. Howard said: "Oh yes. I think any Australian prime minister would."
But he added, "There's no situation that I'm aware of at the moment that raises that issue."
In Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marti Natalegawa said Australia did not have the right to launch military strikes in other countries.
"States cannot willy-nilly flout international law and norms," he said.
Indonesian legislator Alvin Lie termed Mr. Howard's comment "very dangerous" and said he "should learn to control himself."
Australia, a longtime ally of the United States, deployed special forces to Afghanistan last year to help U.S. troops root out Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants.
Mr. Howard said the U.N. Charter should be altered to allow member countries to pre-emptively strike at terrorists. He said the document was developed when conflicts were defined in terms of nations attacking nations.
"That's different now. What you're getting is non-state terrorism which is just as devastating and potentially even more so," he said. "All I'm saying, I think many people are saying, is that maybe the body of international law has to catch up with the new reality."
Who are these guys protecting anyway? Certainly not Australians. Possibly Al-Qaeda folks? Quick, someone call the ACLU or their Indonesian equivalent.....In Jakarta, Indonesian Foreign Ministry spokesman Marti Natalegawa said Australia did not have the right to launch military strikes in other countries.
"States cannot willy-nilly flout international law and norms," he said.
Indonesian legislator Alvin Lie termed Mr. Howard's comment "very dangerous" and said he "should learn to control himself."
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Willy-nilly? Does it occur to this person that terrorists "flout" international law all the time and that states must defend their citizens? The Australian got it right, there isn't one law for states and no law for international terrorists or states that harbor them.
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