En Passant

It is a great idea to support people who are worse off than the rest of us. I support Tony Abbott giving compensation to Australians who are the victims of terrorism, including 9/11 and the Bali bombings. In doing this Abbott is backdating Labor’s scheme to include those already attacked. He is also playing reactionary politics, painting the Australian ruling class as the good guys.

Abbott said Australian victims of terror were targeted as Australians by people who thought our ‘way of life was an abomination to those who wished us harm. When someone has suffered specifically from being an Australian I think our nation has a special level of duty towards them.’ Maybe they target us because we invade their lands or the lands of fellow Muslims and wreak unspeakable barbarism on them?

Abbott’s comment about targeting Australians is not true in any event. The Australians killed in the 9/11 attacks were not killed because they were Australian. They died in response to years of US imperialism and were working in a major symbol of that imperialism.

According to a report in the respected medical journal Lancet in June 2006 the estimate was that 654,965 deaths, direct and indirect, were related to the US led invasion. Extrapolations from that figures suggest it is now likely to be much greater than one million.

Where is the compensation for the dead of Iraq, Mr Abbott, the dead whose deaths you and the government you were a member of helped cause?

I have a suggestion Mr Abbott. If you want to stop terrorism stop engaging in it. That way there wouldn’t be millions of dead at your hands and the hands of your mates and no attacks on Australians for the terrorism you unleash.