NZ joins “colonial occupation” says Alliance

The New Zealand Government decision to join the colonial military occupation of Iraq makes a mockery of its claim to have opposed the legal and moral basis for the war waged by the US and its few allies, says Alliance spokesperson on Peace and Disarmament, Mike Treen.

"It is a cynical lie for Helen Clark to claim that a NZ military engineering unit can operate alongside British forces in Southern Iraq “without in any way becoming an occupying power”. No doubt the government are also keen to help their corporate mates get a finger in the lucrative reconstruction contracts on offer. In so doing we will be profiting from the blood of the Iraqi people who see occupation for what it is – a military dictatorship on behalf of big business who are busy privatizing whatever they can get their hands on.

"It is clear that the Labour-led government is keen to repair the damage done to its relationship with the United States and their dream of further trade liberalization. What they don’t consider is the thousands of jobs that have been and are being lost in New Zealand and around the world as they force their profit before people corporate agenda on the world.

"The Alliance urges people to protest against this military deployment and demand the immediate withdrawal of all NZ military personnel from the Gulf. Let the Iraqi people determine their own future free of foreign control."

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