VANGUARD - Expressing the viewpoint of the Communist Party of Australia (Marxist-Leninist)
For National Independence and Socialism • www.cpaml.org
(Source: https://www.republicworld.com)
If ever any of the US bootlickers in Australian political and military circles needed a wake-up call, it has come directly from Trump’s change of US policy on Ukraine.
Trump has thrown Zelensky under a bus, demanded mineral and rare earth deposits worth 50% of Ukrainian GDP as “compensation” for its financing of Ukraine’s efforts to defeat Russian aggression, and set out to negotiate a deal for ending the war with Putin to the exclusion of the Ukrainians.
Then on February 24, to coincide with the third anniversary of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the UN General Assembly debated two resolutions on the conflict, one proposed by the US, and one by Ukraine.
The US resolution omitted mention of Russian aggression, and only passed after a majority of Member States voted to add EU-led amendments which led to the US abstaining on its own motion and voting against the Ukrainian’s.
The Ukrainian resolution was a three-page document that included clauses noting that “the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation has persisted for three years and continues to have devastating and long-lasting consequences not only for Ukraine, but also for other regions and global stability.”
It called for a commitment to “the sovereignty, independence, unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders”.
Ukraine’s version was eventually passed, supported by 93 countries, opposed by 18 with 65 abstentions including China.
The US voted with Russia, Belarus and Israel to oppose the Ukrainian resolution. The majority of the remainder of the 18 were African nations, indicating Russian imperialism’s increasing influence on the continent.
Later, the US took its original resolution to the Security Council where it was carried 10-0. Five European countries abstained while the US, Russia and China voted in favour.
US imperialism’s about-face on Ukraine must be of concern to its cheer-leaders and lackeys in Australia.
For our part, we have never believed in the US-Australia “Alliance” and have rejected calls to accept US “security guarantees” allegedly contained in the ANZUS Alliance.
The prospect of US imperialism demanding “compensation” for such “guarantees” is now a grim reality.
Will the Brisbane Line be revived and parts to the north of it ceded to the US?
The reality is that something like that is already underway through the US Force Posture Agreement.
Trump’s demands for compensation from Ukraine were described by one journalist as a “gangster protection racket disguised as foreign policy”.
Will we also need to pay the US for its “protection”?
The reality is that we are already committed through AUKUS to pay $30 million a day for the next 30 years – or $368 billion and counting – for a handful of submarines which they and we will pretend are “ours”, but which will be part of the US Navy on an interoperable and interchangeable basis.
It is time to end the grovelling to the US by loyalists to its Empire in Australia.
We are determined to fight for an independent and peaceful Australia.
Both independence and peaceful non-alignment are cornerstones for our future and of equal value and importance.
Smash US imperialism!
For independence and socialism.