17 December 2001

Green Defence spokesperson Keith Locke said today the two Hercules which are due to arrive in Afghanistan shortly should have been contributing to the aid effort, not to the war.

"The Afghan people have suffered enough from the US-led bombing campaign. Now is the time for airborne resources to help bring food aid to those bombed and displaced by the war," said Mr Locke.

"Instead of sending two Hercules to help the war, and then white-washing the situation with one to bring food aid later, we should have committed both Hercules this week to the World Food Programme for Afghanistan."

Mr Locke said New Zealand should never have committed our SAS troops to the war in the first place, let alone be rushing to join in at the tail end of a campaign.

"Surely this is the time to begin rebuilding Afghanistan with aid, not to continue bombarding it or interfering in its affairs with foreign troops," said Mr Locke.

Ends

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>