Nine years of Australian defence forces in Afghanistan was remembered by three flashmob die-ins: on the steps of Flinders street station, outside the old GPO, and at the State Library steps today in Melbourne.
Photos | Youtube video: Ninth anniversary of Afghanistan War remembered in Melbourne with a Flashmob protest
The last die-in was followed by speakers including Greens member for Melbourne Adam Bandt, and Richard Tanter, Professorial Fellow in International Relations in the Research and Innovation Portfolio, Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology, and Senior Research Associate, Nautilus Institute.
Richard Tanter told the crowd "It is time for us to get out. This is not a war that has any rational justification ... and no rational strategic interest for Australia."
The war in Afghanistan is not liberating anyone from terrorism. A reported 971 Afghani’s were killed in fighting during August. 22 Australian troops have been killed, almost half this year. Documents just released through Wikileaks expose how coalition forces have killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents, and that the Taliban are becoming increasingly deadly.
For all this, the Afghanistan war was not rasied at all as in issue in the recent Federal election. New Greens member for Melbourne Adam Bandt has pushed for a parliamentary debate on Australia's continuing contribution to the war.
While 61% of Australians think we should withdraw from Afghanistan – on the whole we’ve been a very silent majority.
