IRAQ:
South Pacific Far Away from, Yet Near, to the War
Kalinga Seneviratne
SYDNEY, Mar 24 (IPS) - The Pacific islands are very far away from the war
on Iraq, but the conflict has been brought much nearer by the involvement
of the region's political heavyweight, Australia, and the fact that many of
their own men and women are serving in U.S. and British forces.
Pacific island nations are also worried that the region could become a
theatre of terrorism in the future, due to their role in the conflict.
Elizabeth Ponga, spokewoman for Cook Islands' Group for Political
Change, told Radio Australia that Australia's commitment of troops to the
war would put Pacific islanders' lives at risk.
''It's very very sad indeed that we have come to a head with such a
thing as war,'' she said. ''With Australia's involvement in the war, I feel
that it draws a greater risk to us in the Pacific.''
Australia has sent 2,000 Special Forces troops to join U.S. and British
forces in the Gulf.
Some 200 Fijians are also serving in the British army now in Iraq.
According to military sources in Fiji, the British have been recruiting
soldiers from the Pacific islands in recent years, and there are now more
than 1,500 Fijians serving in the British army.
Another batch of Fijian soldiers who were providing armed escort for
the U.N. weapons inspectors in Iraq were pulled out and are stationed in
Bangladesh, after the U.N. weapons inspectors left Iraq last week.
Many men and women from the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), along
with those from the Marshall Islands and Palau - all of which have a
Compact of Free Association with the United States - are serving
throughout the U.S. military, according to reports from Pohnpei, the FSM
capital.
FSM President Leo Falcam's own son is a U.S. Marine Corps pilot. On the
eve of the U.S.-led attack that began Mar. 20, he called for a minute of
silence at noon in support of their men and women in the U.S. military.
People from American Samoa and the neighbouring independent Samoa are
also serving in the U.S. military, though it is not clear if any citizen is
taking part in the attack on Iraq.
"The Cold War is over and now we are fighting terrorists," Romanu
Naceva, president of the British Servicemen's Family Association, told
Radio Australia.
"They have no nation, they have no pride, they do not like Western
style of life so they are all out to destroy this and I think it is our
duty to safeguard our western type of life. . . democracy," added the
Fijian, whose son is fighting in Iraq with the British forces.
But his view is not shared by tens of thousands of people across the
Pacific, especially in New Zealand, where huge anti-war rallies were held
over the weekend.
New Zealand has refused to join the 'coalition of the willing' backing
the United States and Britain, and has criticised its Anglo-Saxon neighbour
Australia, for doing so.
"This government will not be assisting a war for which there was no
case at this time," Prime Minister Helen Clarke told parliament in
Wellingtom Friday. She added that facing a choice between supporting
peaceful and diplomatic means and war, her government chose the "only
rational way" - the peaceful path.
"Now that military action has commenced, we clearly have concern for
the welfare of the Iraqi people. For that reason, the sooner the military
action is over, the better," Clarke said, pledging 1.8 million U.S. dollars
for emergency relief for displaced Iraqis.
"We are entering a new dark age in international relations which may
undo what has been with such difficulty and so tentatively achieved in past
50 years," warned Greens leader Jeanette Fitzsimons during an anti-war
rally in Auckland on Saturday.
At the rally attended by more than 5,000 people, the Anglican bishop of
Auckland, Richard Randerson, said: "It was blasphemous for (U.S.) President
(George W) Bush to seek the blessing of God for such activities.''
The governments of Papua New Guinea (PNG), Vanuatu and New Caledonia
have also criticised the U.S.-led attack on Iraq, while Fiji has remained
silent.
"There was still room for negotiations and following the United Nations
charter," said Michael Somare, prime minister of PNG. "I think so many
people around the world are not very happy with the decision that has been
taken, and I have made my position very clear.''
Vanuatu Foreign Minister Serge Vohor said that his country was against
the war raged by the United States and its allies.
PNG's 'National' newspaper said in an editorial that the United States
" has committed the impropriety of further weakening the already struggling
world body" and warned that it will be much more difficult for the United
Nations to "maintain its peacekeeping role in the world".
"It is hard to escape the feeling that Mr Bush's actions have set back
the cause of world unity and peace, and weakened the instrument that could
in time have brought those desirable goals about," it added.
Many Pacific countries are worried that Australian Prime Minister John
Howard's decision to send troops to join the U.S.-led coalition may invite
unnecessary attention from terrorist groups.
They are mainly worried that such conflicts would destabilise the
tourist industry, which is the main foreign exchange earner for most island
nations.
Tahiti's tourism authorities are seriously concerned about the impact
the war would have on French Polynesia's economy, as it attracts over
200,000 visitors annually mainly from Europe.
French Polynesia's Catholic Archbishop Monseigneur Hubert Coppenrath
told the 'Tahiti Presse' newspaper that a large part of the public in
Tahiti opposed the war. ''This area is a power keg. We are not (yet)
calculating all the consequences," he said.
Northern Marianas, a U.S. territory also heavily dependent on tourism,
expect a 25 percent drop in tourist traffic as people "feel nervous" about
traveling, according to Ron Sablan, vice president of the Hotel Association
of Northern Marianas.
Likewise, "tourists may not travel to our islands, especially because
we are on U.S. soil,'' he said. "We need to convince people we are a safe
place," says Sablan. (END/2003)
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