Senator NETTLE (1:20 PM) —As the war on Iraq continues, it has become a television event, with pictures of charging tanks, explosions and umpteen cruise missile launches from the decks of ships. Debate has been put on hold in favour of military analysis. Ethical, legal and political critique has been replaced by endless speculation on military tactics, troop moral and sterile technicalities—all of this being delivered with the latest of war machine jargon. For this reason it is vital that we remind ourselves that this war remains immoral no matter how many towns are so-called `liberated', it is still illegal no matter how many new so-called `allies' are bought out, and it is still setting a frightening precedent. It is a precedent that threatens to plunge the wider region into a bloody turmoil of civil war, to worsen the plight for Palestinians and the fear of the Israelis, and encourages a `might is right' doctrine, destabilising conflict zones around the world.

These are the key reasons why the Australian Greens continue to oppose this war but support our troops. We support our troops because we care about them. As human beings, we wish them all safety in a time of great danger. This is the same motive that brings thousands of people onto the streets against this war—the desire to prevent the death or suffering of our fellow human beings, be they soldiers or civilians. That is why the Greens continue to say, `Support our troops by bringing them home.'

There are those in this chamber and in the media who are determined to write off these concerns about casualties. We heard in the chamber yesterday one of those people citing the fact that `only' a few hundred civilians had been killed in the first few days of war, or they say that `humane bombing'—that sickening oxymoron—was delivering a bloodless victory to these humane invaders. These apologists for war are quick to claim success but, sadly, those of us who are not dazzled by the military circus know that this war and its effects cannot be judged after just a few days or a few weeks. Only after several months, years and even decades will the damage that has been done be truly understood. It is on a long-term scale that our actions must be judged. Yet, even after the first few days, there is much that we need to mourn for. The military spin that told us of whole divisions surrendering has sadly proven to be false, so too the willingness of Iraqi soldiers to welcome the Australians, British and Americans. We do not know how many civilians have been killed so far. Certainly, hundreds have been, with many more injured. As fighting intensifies these numbers are likely to rise.

These civilians are real people, innocent of any crime against us or our allies. They are real people, like Rossel Salam, a 10-year-old girl, who was hurt on 21 March, in the west end of Baghdad. At about 9 p.m. she was in her garden. There was a blast and metal splinters were flying about. Her wrist, forearm, hand and breast were hit. She has multiple fractures. A tube has been put in her thorax, her lung was hit and blood has entered her chest cavity

These are the bare facts that have escaped the military mindset. Good news is quick to be reported; bad news is slower to surface. We can be sure that the thousands of bombs and missiles that have rained down on Baghdad, Basra and other cities and towns in Iraq have not all found their `military' targets, certainly not the unexploded cluster bomblets that are now littering Basra in their thousands—they have already killed and maimed hundreds of civilians and will continue to do so for weeks, months and years to come—and certainly not the cruise missile that sent shrapnel into the legs and spine of a five-year-old girl, Doha, who now lies among the 101 other patients brought to a hospital in Baghdad last Friday night.

These are the confronting facts of war that will begin to surface weeks from now in larger and larger numbers. These are the facts that this government shares responsibility for, the result of a decision that this government could have rejected but did not. And what for? People truly believe that Iraq will be at peace—what, like Afghanistan? Has that bloody episode ended the threat of terrorism or brought freedom and security to the local people? The sinister ripples of this decision are on the move and will not stop at the borders of Iraq.

This does not bode well for the fragile state of Middle Eastern politics. Central to this fragility is the 50-year-old wound of the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories. This war threatens to further derail any hopes for peace in that region, hopes which have already been weakened in recent weeks. A new right-wing Israeli government continues its violent repression of the Palestinian people—action surely encouraged by the US led gunboat diplomacy. Israel responds to the terrorism of extremists with its own terrorism of indiscriminate killing: bulldozing, shooting and blowing up men, women and children, all the time giving birth to new and more desperate extremists ready to keep the violent cycle spinning. An escalation of this violence is already being felt in the camps in Gaza and in the West Bank. Violence has already seen over 400 Israelis killed in extremist attacks over the last two years—and a staggering 1,806 Palestinians, nearly 500 of whom were children killed by the Israeli defence forces.

Politically the situation has deteriorated. The Sharon government has recently declared that there will be no independence for the Palestinians, only a state `with certain attributes of sovereignty', a declaration that comes as Israel continues with its construction of a six-metre security fence planned to totally surround any Palestinian state. This is not a road map to peace but a commitment to oppression. Without radical and concerted political action to head off this aggression, the region will be condemned to yet more years of conflict and more years of pain.

The pursuit of violence as a political tool, as we are seeing in Iraq, only serves to worsen this human tragedy. As the months roll by, the decision to attack Iraq will increasingly represent a betrayal of the hopes of the children of Israel and Palestine, hopes for a future, for peace and for security. Surely the tragedy of Palestine should be our guide: 50 years of violence are no closer to bringing peace; 50 years of political, financial and military resources have not brought the Israelis the security that they desire. Only justice can do that and only a commitment to equality, the elimination of poverty and a free pursuit of self-determination.

The United States will not win a war on terrorism if they are still fighting it with cruise missiles and cluster bombs decades from now. The stupidity of this tactic is painfully obvious. They cannot bring peace and harmony to this most volatile of regions at the end of a gun. This is a recipe for perpetual tragedy. The world is crying out for a different way: a commitment to peace, a commitment made real through an investment in eliminating poverty, through an investment in the development of international law and through the concerted and genuine pursuit of eliminating human rights abuses. Australia has a role to play in averting this tragedy. As a rich Western democratic and— until now—essentially peaceful country, we are in a strong position to advocate for these changes. The message of the peace movement is to focus on this goal, to see through the media dazzle dressing up this war and to recommit to peace. We need to start now by bringing home the troops, lifting the sanctions, supporting international law and saying no to war. I seek leave to table over 28,000 signatures against the war that were circulated to parties and senators yesterday.

Leave granted.