Former army chief says ‘make love, not war’

stephen says:

03:22pm | 12/03/10

Go tell it to the Greens.
(I met a Greens Senator once, and i don’t think he’d know how to make a baby, so fer the life of me i can’t think why he/they’d want to support Mr Abbott’s policy.)

Kim says:

03:51pm | 12/03/10

Hey, who said you could use that photo of me smoking a joint?

AdamC says:

03:58pm | 12/03/10

Members of the military brass have been notorious throughout history for planning for ‘yesterday’s war’ rather than tomorrow’s. In Leahy’s case, it seems he is planning for today’s war. While current threats are presented by primarily non-state actors who fight ‘asymmetrically’, our future enemies may well not be.

In fact, as US hegemony decays, it is probable we will be left with a multi-polar world of small states likely – in the absence of a powerful US deterrent – to squabble violently. In that context, it is vital that Australia maintain a serious military deterrent.

As for taking tea with our enemies, I couldn’t agree more. Carrots are fine, but you get the best outcomes when you have both carrots and sticks.

jim of sc says:

04:28pm | 12/03/10

And what shape was the army in when Leahy left it?

iansand says:

09:03pm | 12/03/10

As far as I know the only successful resistance to a native insurgency is the Malayan emergency. Military firmness coupled with a “hearts and minds” strategy worked in Malaya.  It seems to me that success deserves study.

But why would you listen to a bunch of softcocks just because it worked?

Paul says:

01:18pm | 13/03/10

@eric no begging and appeasing hey? @the drover big sticks eh?Then why has Australia licenced a neighbour with aggressive tendancies (Indonesia) to invade 4 other neighbouring countries. Plus harbour high profile terrorist groups JI. Plus slaughter 150,000 East Timorese and a handful of Australian journalists. Yet we are prepared to travel halfway around the world to deal with similar ‘threats’ in Iraq and Afganistan? Doesn’t add up. Tough in the Middle East - Cowering-Wimps in our own backyard? Perhaps such bloodythirsty and schizophrenic geopolitical policy is encouraged by anti-history clown citizens like yourselves? Should we get our Liberal and Labor leaders to wear clown suits as a solution?

Timmo says:

01:21pm | 13/03/10

We should stop interfering with other countries internal problems. Get out of Afghanastan and let the Taliban have it. Let people who want to practice moderate islam leave and let people who want sharia law stay. As long as they the sharia people follow the rules they will be ok.

Leave the Iraqis alone to make their own future. Now that Bush, Howard and Blair have destroyed their country and killed many thousands of their people and failed miserably, now it’s time to leave and admit defeat. The Evil Saddam has been hung but the invaders still walk amongst us. Why is that?, no penalty for them. I know, because we are the great ones who are pure and innocent. The New world order, going well as we can see.

But the punch line is this. If we have any civil disobedience in good old Oz then the Australian Army now have the power to shoot us down in the street like dogs. Now that’s a good one!. Howard and Beasley couldn’t wait to sneak that one through a few years ago. And that people is what they, the usurpers of power here can do to you and your kids.

Sure puts the mockers on Anzac Day for me and certainly was a waste of time for my Grandfather and uncles who fought for our freedoms. Anyway the RSL is more about Poker Machines than honoring the war dead.

Mankind can never have peace until they breed the Simian Genes out of us. Now that’s a fact. How long will that take?, Well about 7 generations of selective breeding to remove the imbalances, a great man once said. Good time to start now. Governments love war, it makes them money. Arms factories employ a lot of people and a question may be asked to the good Army Leader. Who do we sell our weapons of mass destruction too?. But it may be America driving all this and of course they have been stealing the oil from the middle east for a long time now. Good business for them!. America has never won a war they have started, always ruining countries and culture and then after failing once again running down the road. We have all been suckered again and America would love to slip out the side door and let the others clean up yet again their obvious mistakes and failures. Well of course there is only one thing to say to finish this and that is that old adage, “Lest we forget.”

Sydney Dude says:

01:59pm | 13/03/10

He is in part correct.50% correct, but that does not mean 50% of our defence budget should go to aid.We are a $1 Trillion plus economy.According to the common standard 1% of GNP should go to aid.So we should spend $10 Billion on aid.We spend about $3 billion.

If you create a friend out of an enemy,by helping them despite their enemy status it is a friend for life.By displaying ongoing kindness to the defeated you show respect.This is why Australia and Turkey are such great friends.You cannot expect that you will create friends out of people you not only defeat but then continue to desecrate after war is over.You must lift up those whom are innocent.In war, many of the enemy combatants population are innocent.

Aggressor nations have small elites and cliques that rule, control armies and finances and are usually despotic towards their own populations.

Europe pomised in 2005 to up it’s aid from $20 Billion (all of the Euro Community, yes $20 Billion only!)to $60 Billion.It has only upped it to $40 Billion.It has failed to reach it’s own target, that is a massive failure of morality.

It spent hundreds of Billions bailing out banks who allowed themselves to be “ripped Off” (cough cough) by other “Banks” during the 2009 crisis.If only Europeans, Americans and others truly understood how they have had Trillions of dollars just stolen off them by .....Banks!

We should not only be capable of fighting war, but winning the peace.A much harder task as any military person knows.

Dordy says:

02:38pm | 13/03/10

The stereotype of top military brass being war-mongering aggressors doesn’t hold, at least not in Australia. To suggest that Leahy is in some way against the grain is not fair to the rest of the Generals, who are generally good, intelligent people that are philosophical about their professions, and would probably share his outlook. What I want to know is, what factors prevented him from making these arguments whilst still part of the institution?

DarrenW says:

09:34pm | 13/03/10

Eric, if we believe in a ‘deterrent’ policy, then should we be consistent and rid ourselves of terror ‘attractants’ like John Howard/‘Liberals’? Confused, double standards loses wars too Eric. Especially the all important media war. Pick your battles and punch above your weight like Aussie diggers have mostly done. Unlike Howard. He couldn’t even prosecute the major terrorist supporters the AWB. Don’t send a message to your enemies that you are weak is another military maxim.

dave says:

08:35am | 14/03/10

Like Halliburton says: make war, not love. That’s where the finger licking profits are. Love those dividends!

Pete Bollister says:

11:05am | 14/03/10

Seems like alot of tired cliches some of you scared Australians are dragging out above. What about the “assymetry” of 70% of Australians being against the Iraq war yet the Liberals insisting on a war based on “intelligence” and turning us into a terror target?

“Vigilence”  - shouldn’t we have vigilence about our own leaders manipulating fake wars to take our civil rights and democracy like the Chimp in Chief George Dubbya did and monkey-see- monkey-do John Howard did too….Or to use wars for their corrupt mates to make windfall profits? Vigilence? Who is being vigilent?

I think many of you may have “Sylvester Stallone syndrome”... you like to go where the US and the cameras are and you like to admire your big muscles and M-60. And you don’t like to use your brains!

And now Obama is rebuilding his nuclear weapons stockpile, I wonder what consequence that will cause? (Poor bloke can’t even work out what treaties he is a signatory to - or which industries he is a finger puppet of!)

Peter Lee says:

01:26am | 15/03/10

Politics and diplomacy
At Gallipoli in ww1, A turkish captain said to an Australian as they spoke during the cease fire on May 11th as he observed the work of mercy
of burying the dead and assisting wounded men caught in nomansland
On the left he saw all the white crosses made to mark graves and on his right the machine guns where being serviced and new ammunition was being brought forward. He remarked to the australian in english, politics and diplomacy on the left you have sentiment of diplomacy on the right you have the cold hard reality of politics God pity all us poor soldiers.
I fear we will always resort to war as measure to force political ideals
it would be great if diplomacy could work without politics but I fear it won’t

Peter Lee says:

08:33am | 15/03/10

Oh I forgot 200 rounds through the vickers adatqualy boils the water ffor numerous cups of tea if required

Paul says:

08:45am | 15/03/10

@eric fight enemies everywhere? More hypothetical military musing Eric? Please outline Australias winning military moves against Indonesian aggression against our neighbours (and WW2 allies the East Timorese) and the harbouring of dangerous anti-Australian terrorist organisation J.I? Also Eric do have interests in the war industries or uranium?

Darren says:

08:05pm | 15/03/10

@Mick yeah and was Saddam and Afganistan going to invade us in wooden boats or flying carpets you dolt? And since when did Aussies abandon Ww2 allies like the east timorese?

Dave says:

03:51pm | 18/03/10

I always enjoyed the ‘respected’ opinion of former Defence Force Officers (both here and abroad), and I must stipulate OFFICERS here, who claw and backstab their way up the ladder, being careful to spend as little time as possible umongst the filth and depravity of the ‘Other Ranks’, astutely micro-managaging their careers, doing the right course here, the right slot there, ticking this and that box, kissing the right arse, mouthing the same old platitudes in order to get the coveted slots. And then when they get out all of a sudden they flip 180 and say ‘we should be doing this’ or ‘we shold be doing that’ despite the fact when they held the rank, when they had the position and power to affect national policy they shut their fucking mouths and went along with it just so they could sit at the top of the pyramid just that bit longer.

There’s your definition of coward right there. At the top of the food chain. Whilst Bravery, what you want in your Defense Force personel is at the bottom end, the powerless end, the end most vulnerable that needs looking after by those at the top. Its no good speaking out when you are no longer part of the system. You should have done it when you could have.

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