Meanwhile, in Australia, our Prime Minister Anthony Albanese responded to to the US attack on Venezuela¹ by posting on ‘X’:

“We urge all parties to support dialogue and diplomacy in order to secure regional stability and prevent escalation. Australia has long held concerns about the situation in Venezuela, including the need to respect democratic principles, human rights and fundamental freedoms,” 

Anthony Albanese

Hmmmm. Democratic principles, human rights, and fundamental freedoms? These are some lofty principles to be throwing out there whilst simultaneously bending the political knee to a newly minted fascist superpower that has just invaded a sovereign state, abducted two of its citizens², killed many others (early estimates are 40?) and violated article 2(4) of the United Nations Charter.

To wit: All Members shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State, or in any other manner inconsistent with the Purposes of the United Nations.

Last night, Donald Trump crossed yet another line that cannot be normalized, excused, or spun away. As a human rights lawyer, I do not say this lightly: the United States has illegally bombed a sovereign nation, kidnapped its sitting leader and first lady, and is now attempting to retroactively launder that act through a distorted misuse of criminal law. This is not law enforcement. This is not “peace through strength.” This is an unlawful act of war and an assertion of imperial power that mandates impeachment. 

Quasim Rashid, Trump’s Illegal Act of War In Venezuela

It is time for the Australian government to grow a spine and call out the US for this latest in a liturgy illegal, immoral and evil actions.

The actions of the past year showed very clearly that the United States is guided not by international law or any notion of doing good in the world, but by an agenda of “might makes right” that exists to serve the United States in the short term, regardless of the medium- to long-term fallout. Trump and those around him assume that they can do as they wish and that they will never feel the consequences because of the power they hold. It’s a risky gamble — but if other actions were not, the attack on Venezuela should be a wake-up call to US allies of the threat they face from continued dependence on the United States.

Paris Marx, The United States is a Rogue State.

It is time for Australia to unhook itself from the velcro-hegemony of US oil and power hungry imperialism and look to forge new and stronger friendships with more appropriate powers.

For decades, Australian leaders have tied our strategic identity to the US. We’re investing hundreds of billions into AUKUS submarines. Much of that money is going straight into US ship building industries. We seem to be deriding or ignoring diplomatic alternatives, pushing deeper into a dangerous security relationship that demands more from us. And our Defence and Foreign Ministers are insisting that shared “values” still bind Canberra and Washington. What planet are they on?!

Gregory Andrews, Tied to the Titanic: Australia’s US Delusion Is Sinking Fast

Because if we don’t…at the very least we will be accessories after the fact, and more likely… active participants in an impending catastrophic unravelling of the world.

1. And its half-arsed plan to take control of the entire country (and its oil) for the foreseeable future ↩︎
2. One of whom is reportedly a psychopathic dictator to be sure…but if swooping into another country to ‘arrest’ such bad folk makes it OK, I have a Russian president and an Israeli prime minister, both genocidal war criminals that I would like to ditto with extreme prejudice. ↩︎