What - no mention of what happened as a result of the illegal Shock and Awe invasion of, and war against the people of Iraq by the Howard government in which she was a minister. And of course like all of Howard's stooges at the time she did not ever mention in public even a whiff of a doubt or dissent re that invasion.

Remembering too that ALL of the justifications for the Shock and Awe invasion of Iraq were bogus and/or downright deliberate lies. In fact the war had been intended and even planned for by the neo-psychotics associated with the Bush administration.

Why was Iraq invaded when most of the Sept 11 terrorists were Saudi nationals - none of them were from Iraq. And Al Queada hardly even existed in Iraq.

Has she ever expressed any regret for her complicity in the crimes thus committed. Or regret for how that invasion made the world a much more dangerous place.

oh finaly the pretty one speaks
but julie is one step from juliar[i say this from love]

julie you know the issue is deep rooted
caused mostly..by colonisation...[installing an elite
to overlord it over a majority...[usually driven out of their homelands..thus with no state public servants to serve THEIR peace

but..till we swee that the time of state hood..via the lie of a crown
is just setting things up..as we see unwinding even still today

ask john to explain the wikiseed/wikigeld untimatum
[we took the poor from you..they now can pick who gets their taxes pick who we chose to lord it over us...but not til greed destroys most of it]

watch how destruction of war
destroys the true capital [wealth]..the people
lets raise them to their true values...disolve all state boundry
invite them to become world citizens...

cut off the money flow..
regain all that stolen..by the colonising few
force those who got the advantage to pay..restore that they despoiled

but i wait to see if you reply[do]
or have simply made a statement

divide the fighting forces
ensure each supply routes..begin fixing locally[run via schools...govern us via self autonimous fiefdoms[by school district]

teach/rule..do it ALL locally
govern us locally...via schools
many small fish..not too big..to fail.. big ones

anyhow
now i go to read [pages 2/3]
take their assets..everyday find more
hit the nerve pocket..and broadcast the truth to the people..

you know standard opperating procedure
like we did to the commies..

please note democrazey..isnt the end
it dont work...we need true govt representation
not just in the main ex lawyers making laws judged by other laws
under the fiction of liz being 'the crown'

we want a true common wealth
educate the people locally..school districts size govt
not big huge colonisations[eg indonesia is oppressed by just 3 islands]

as i told john
550 states...not 7

demon-autocracy
money rules..buys out the media
makes govt give [dead corperations rights
while stealing the rights of the living..imprisoning people globally

i think 144.000 states..should form the united nation
[not the united nations few..demon-autocracy or inbred elite]

but the new un..[as per wiki declaration]
sovereign united nation[as one under god]

the s.u.n giving all of gods mortal heirs their fair share of the immortal fathers goods[via a common wealth of nations]..via the tree of life[rev 22;2]..seeds bering the 'leaves for the healing of nations

john was noticed
[tell him ross meets obama soon]

follow a kiss rule
anyone with a gun..will be shot on site[next year]
please return the guns to your local school...before christmass

allthough..ross apparently thinks
that till easter.... it will be a grace period

but then carry a gun
your gone

kiss

peace not pieces

make the people secure first
protect assets...vile likes destruction..[cause they own rebuilding]

wikiseed does it for free
our sovereign spiritual authority..
assures each they just share on our common wealth

patrirchy is protected in mens circles
matrirchy is balanced in womans circles
concensus of both..issues order and bond..to public SERVICE

no overseers..no boss..here is the way
and the means..you want anything govt..go to mens or womans circles
and the school will qualify you fully indemnify you globally..our money isnt a money but a promise..a promise to the seed of the tree of life

gen 1;29 gave us the plant
exodus 25;31-40..deescribes it
rev 22 explains how its all paid for..in full

not nonsence % on the $

The troubled path from dictator to democracy to oligarchy is a more accurate statement, Julie!

Of course another way to end the bloodshed in Syria would be for Obama and his friends to cease arming the rebels in that country.
Secretary of State Clinton's call for Russia to stop sending arms into that country is more than a tad hypocritical when Clinton represents a regime that is actively, if this time clandestinely, arming an opposition.
Pakistan, Afghanistan, Iraq, Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, Yemen and now Syria lie in ruins. Lebanon, Greece, Spain and Italy soon to follow.
Banksters and arms merchants, drugs and drones, and Ms Bishop as a choir girl?
Oh dear...

Apart from the strong whiff of political hypocrisy in Ms Bishop's article (how come hypocrisy always seems to appear in whiffs?) there are some fundamental problems in the way we look at these countries and their internal struggles.

A key discussion point is whether external intervention, of any kind, is ever warranted, in any circumstances.

Faced with images of innocent bystanders, families and children being blown apart by extreme violence, the gut reaction is to find any and every way possible to stop it happening. But callous as it may sound, those images should not be a deciding factor.

External interference can so easily serve to exacerbate the problems. As a case in point, the French and Francophone African interventions in Rwanda were significant factors in increasing the already substantial tensions between Hutu and Tutsi. It is of course impossible to speculate whether the 1994 massacre of close to a million individuals would have happened anyway. But it is worth recalling that the faction supported by the French when the Rwanda Civil War broke out in 1990 were the Hutu. And it was the Hutu that later instigated the massacre.

One unknown is, or should be at least, how much the international intervention has already contributed to escalating the tensions, and therefore indirectly increasing the death toll in Syria.

Ms Bishop does at least, somewhat reluctantly, appear to acknowledge this possibility:

"While it is true that intervention can have uncertain results, and there are instances where it has been to the detriment of those it intended to protect, that does not mean all international intervention has failed."

But she still seems determined to portray the non-interventionists, Russia, China and Iran, as running interference...

"Russia, China and Iran are rapidly approaching a critical point where they must choose - the side of humanity or the side of the dictator?"

Gee, Ms Bishop. If only the choice were that simple.

It's a vexed question Julia? However, the only way to remove Assard is through unification?
It is only their division that allows a divide and rule dictator to remain in power!
Libyans and Egyptians, really only have a single road to travel to live in freedom, and that is through a united we stand stance that defies Iran, China and Russia?
All of who would love to get their paws on Libya's copious oil?
If only to ensure that oil continues to function as an economic weapon, that could topple the west?
We who very possibly have hydrocarbon resources to our immediate north, to rival or eclipse the entire Middle East; should resist current attempts to lock up and lock away this possible economy saving bonanza and independence.
Look, our sweet light crude leaves the ground as a sulphur free, naturally occurring diesel, that produces, just 25% of the carbon of fully imported refined fuel products! A little carbon free chill filtering, utilising also naturally occurring nearby sub zero gas, would serve to remove the small soluble wax content, responsible for black smoke and or frosty morning blocked injectors?
Imported oil products reportedly cost over 10 billion, of increasingly scarce export dollars?
You'd think that climate change advocacy, would welcome the lower emissions that would result in its substitution?
Moreover, almost every mode of transport that ply our roads, rail and sea lanes, will run just as well on Compressed NG, or biogas!
We have hundreds of years worth of the former; and or, can make the latter indefinitely, or just as long as we humans produce biological waste.
We clearly need to take some action, to once and for all, end any dependence on a continually troubled Middle East. Which could conceivably cut off energy supplies, needed by a near bankrupt Europe; and or, the US of A?
Rhrosty.

According to Kofi Annan, the “tipping point” in the Syria conflict: a massacre of over 90 people, for which the Syrian regime of was blamed by the entirety of Western media. Within days of the Houla massacre, U.S., France, Great Britain, Australia and other countries expelled Syrian ambassadors.

According to Germany’s FAZ, the Houla massacre was committed by anti-Assad Sunni militants, the victims were members of the Alawi and Shia minorities.

The massacre occurred after rebels attacked army roadblocks outside of Houla, set up to protect nearby Alawi majority villages from Sunni militias. The rebel attacks provoked a call for reinforcements by the besieged army. Syrian army and rebel forces engaged in a battle during which time “dozens of soldiers and rebels” were killed.

“According to eyewitness accounts, “The massacre occurred during this time. Those killed were exclusively from Alawi and Shia minorities. Over 90% of Houla’s population are Sunnis. Several dozen members of a family were slaughtered, which had converted from Sunni to Shia Islam. Members of the Shomaliya, an Alawi family, were also killed, as was the family of a Sunni member of the Syrian parliament.

Immediately following the massacre, the perpetrators filmed their victims and then presented them as Sunni victims in videos posted on the internet.

Eye witness accounts collected from refugees from the Houla region by members of the Monastery of St. James in Qara, show armed rebels murdered “entire Alawi families” in the Houla region.

Mother Agnès-Mariam de la Croix of the St. James Monastery warned of rebel atrocities’ being repackaged in Western media accounts as regime atrocities. She cited the case of a massacre in the Khalidiya neighbourhood in Homs. According to the French monastery’s website, rebels gathered Christian and Alawi hostages in a building in Khalidiya and blew up the building; then attributed the crime to the Syrian army. “Even though this act has been attributed to regular army forces, the evidence and testimony are irrefutable: It was an operation undertaken by armed groups of the rebel opposition,” Mother Agnès-Mariam wrote.

Julie, more hypocrisy, when will you answer your critics

Australia and other concerned countries should work through the UN and other key stakeholders to press both sides in the Syrian civil war to immediately end the killing and the violence and embrace peace and democracy. The Syrian people should be given support to find a political solution that will deliver better social, economic and environmental outcomes. The West and the rest should accept the democratic choices of the people.

The arms dealers must be prevented from profiting from the destruction of Syria and other countries. This is why Australia should get a seat at the UN Security Council in October 2012 and start playing a more positive and significant role in international affairs in support of peace, development and cooperation.

If one were to assume Assad wants to remain in power, why would he seek to inflame 'world opinion' with such acts of atrocity? Is he insane or is the ‘news’ nonsense? I would suggest the latter. How does one explain what is happening in Syria? Are there similar events we can compare with the “Syrian issue”?

How about Yugoslavia, which is now no longer on the map? Its "evil" leader, Slobodan Milosevic is no more. He allegedly carried out atrocities against his own people. Humanitarian intervention was essential. The former country is now ruled by the west and is an important conduit for the transport of oil and a military base for western armies.

Likewise Afghanistan, in retribution for the so call ‘9/11 terrorist attacks’ by alleged Saudi perpetrators - the Taliban led by the 'evil' Mullah Omar was swiftly driven out and the ensuing chaos continues. Afghanistan has valuable mineral wealth (rare earth metals) and occupies a key geo-strategic position.

Iraq was 'surgically' bombed. Western humanitarians wanted to avoid further bloodshed which caused the death of over half-a-million Iraqi children in 'a price that was worth paying' during UN sanctions.

The 'evil' Saddam Hussein was hunted down and dispatched. The chaos and killing continues.

Then there was Libya, again, an 'evil' man was in control and had to be removed for the sake of 'world peace'. He apparently was threatening to do some awful things to his own people. He was evil incarnate. He was captured and butchered by the humanitarian liberators of that oil-rich country. Chaos and killing continue in Libya, but the oil is flowing.

So now we have a new 'evil' tyrant, hell-bent on slaughtering his own people. Clearly, he must be removed for the sake of world peace. Besides, he is an ally of Iran, a country that is extremely rich in oil and led, wait for it, by an 'evil' man who wants to wipe Israel off the map. Now what do you suppose is going to happen to Iran

Geoff of Perth

All excellent points, Geoff, and stem from information freely available to anyone who is not willing to accept the Western media's contrived hysteria.

The Western public relations formula for these 'interventions' to overthrow 'evil' regimes - starting with Yugoslavia, then Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya - has become so predictable and mathematical in its consistency that it beggars belief that anyone is still capable of believing it - or at least putting up a pretence of believing it and keeping a straight face at the same time.

Thanks Killarney, the tenth anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Centre last year was a sombre occasion. In front of tearful crowds gathered at the site of the towers, President Obama read from the Bible and George W. Bush read a letter written by Abraham Lincoln as president to a widow who had lost five sons in the Civil War. The letter said that those deaths were “a sacrifice upon the altar of freedom.”

The crowd heard the US had overcome slavery, Civil War, bread lines, fascism, recession, riots, communism and terrorism and was reminded, while the US is not perfect, its democracy is durable. Such lofty ideals were echoed by secretary of state Hilary Clinton in New York.

She stated the US and other nations of the world face a long-term struggle against the ‘murderous ideology’ of terrorism that continues to incite violence around the world.

US mainstream media wallowed in conveying such sentiments on a day awash with sound bites of a nation united in sorrow and determined to defeat the forces of barbarism. But, who is to save the world from the barbarism of the US?

US support for undemocratic, repressive regimes is there for all to see, whether Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, the former Mubarak regime in Egypt or elsewhere. It has toppled democratically elected governments in Latin America and has torched, scorched and poisoned civilians throughout Southeast Asia.

It sells arms to repressive regimes and reports from numerous agencies document its creation of civilian bloodbaths across the world, from Nicaragua and Iraq to Pakistan and Afghanistan. US acts of aggression over many decades place it at the top table in terms of global terror states.

When all of the havoc brought about by the US abroad is taken into account, it puts passages read from the Bible and talk of ‘sacrifices at the altar of freedom’ into perspective, doesn’t it? Maybe not for most in the US, but it does for many of us outside who are tuned in to the wider picture.

Geoff of Perth, your sentiments about the U.S. mirror mine perfectly.

The fact that most people believe the crap that the U.S. dishes up is a tragedy. The fact that both sides of our Federal Government are taken in by its duplicitous indoctrination and lies is lamentable.

What does the U.S. have to do before people wake up? Isn't torture, rendition, killing millions, putting people in cages, crushing American dissenters, drones, depleted uranium, white phosphorous munitions, napalm, building military bases all over the world, cluster bombs, etc, enough?

The other day all sources were absolutely certain the Assad forces had committed the recent massacres. Now things do not seem so clear cut.

“Fresh eyewitness reports from the ground suggest that the horrendous Houla massacre in Syria was committed by rebel forces, not by loyalists to President Bashar Al-Assad…During the skirmish, the massacre itself began, in which armed Sunni rebels turned on Alawi and Shia families and slaughtered them.”
http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=140217

What other certainties will be exposed as spin?

The lesson for Julie Bishop and the other honcho’s in the Liberal party is: don’t involve us in Syria -- keep the hell out!

what syria is really about

Obama's problem is, Netanyahu will probably not let him wait until after November's elections to attack Iran.

Netanyahu is most likely to start such an attack when he believes that it will be best militarily for Israel.

But there are some questions both leaders need to ask themselves, and their military and civilian leadership members and they are as follows:

What happens if such an attack is not a blitzkrieg, executed with deadly precision?!?

What if the war becomes protracted, and lasts over a long period of time?

How will Hezbullah respond?!?

What about the dangers of massive casualties in Israel?

And I would mention that American intervention in such a war may not guarantee a positive outcome, because the US government doesn't have the troop strength, the money, or the manufacturing to insure a positive outcome of such a war.

Additionally, there is absolutely no appetite for such a war on the part of the American people. They remember, painfully clearly (particularly if they have family or friends who were maimed for life or killed in Iraq) that the war against Iraq was predicated on an absolute pack of lies. Iraq was Israel's "existential threat du jure" at the time, and the horrific mess in which the US military left it was precisely the outcome Israel wanted to have happen.

And lastly, leaders of nuclear-armed Russia, China, and Pakistan have spoken out very publicly, stating that should Iran be attacked, they will come to its aid militarily.

So what we have here is the potential for a global nuclear confrontation over an alleged Iranian weapons program which cannot, to date, be proven to exist!!

So to Netanyahu and Obama, and all of the others in the bowels of power in Tel Aviv and DC: please be very careful what you wish for regarding Iran.

The unintended consequences of such a military strike
may well be horrific, and irreversible.
http://whatreallyhappened.com/

I just hope the Gillard government has the sense to steer clear of any involvement in the Syrian quagmire.

Webester Tarpley was in Syria late last year.He said that there were US backed forces there,pretending to be rebels,killing ordinary people at random.http://tarpley.net/

Iraq had nothing to do with 911 and had no weapons of mass destruction.Saddham was a US created tyrant who got out of control.He started trading oil in EUROs instead of designated US $.Aside from the theft of oil,this is the main reason why Saddham was murdered.Oil still supports the dollar.The USA backed Pol Pot who was responsible for the murder or 3 million Cambodians.Communism was never a threat to us.

The USA has invaded or attacked over 20 countries since 1942.Which country has the track record for aggression by far?

Russia has sent more troops and weapons into Syria.When Libya was invaded 30,000 Chinese oil workers were forced to leave.The war in Afghanistan is all about the containment of China.Both Paul Keating and Malcolm Fraser recently have made this observation.

If the Coalition want a nuclear conflagragation Julie,then keep backing the Western war mongerers.OLO is not a place to preach to the dumbed down masses who consume the corporate media lies.

Another excellent site Julie is http://www.globalresearch.ca/ Your survival and the rest of the planet depends upon the seeking of truth.

Syria is a mess. The non-Sunni's hold the power yet are the minority (25%) while the Sunni's (75%) want democracy which will essentially marginalise the minority.

While democracy is a theoretical ideal, in the case of Syria, it is not necessarily so. After all the recent bloodshed, it is unlikely a democracy will see fair treatment of the minority for some time, more likely it will result in an inversion of the status quo.

RE Iraq, the country was much better off under Saddam (particularly in the last 5-10 years) than it has been since. I think Iraq may have eventually gone down the path of the rest of the "Arab Spring" though, following the lead of Egypt, Lybia and now Syria. I don't think the outcome will have been too much different in the long run. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

But you never know, they may have followed Indonesia's lead and had a peaceful transition to democracy (still a work in progress btw). Hmmm, maybe not.

America's idea of a democracy is where it runs all the other democracies and nations using nuclear force if necessary.

American hegemony is well advanced but Russia and China might tip its applecart.

I hope so! A world run by the U.S. would be a nightmare.