The Australian Government yesterday announced the preparation and deployment of a military force, including combat aircraft and 600 troops, as its contribution to the US-led invasion of Iraq. The expected decision of a military intervention follows an orchestrated propaganda campaign against the alleged threat to Australia from ISIS and a politicised raising of the ‘terror threat' level.

In this regard, Hizb ut Tahrir Australia emphasises the following:

1.  We condemn, in the strongest of terms, this latest western aggression on the Muslim world and Australia's involvement in it. This invasion is unjust and unjustified. The alleged threat from ISIS is been exploited, in classic neo-colonial style, to justify intervention. Every time western powers move to satiate their lust for war and economic gain, the pretext is some new supposedly existential threat.

2.  While beating the drums of war, the Prime Minister has switched to propaganda overdrive mode. He is framing this as a "humanitarian mission", whereas the only ‘humanitarian' work Super Hornet jets do is kill humans, indiscriminately. He is also disingenuously framing this as an "international coalition". In reality, this is an American war for American political and economic interests. The US has gathered its band of reliant allies and puppets. There is no international coalition. None of the Arab regimes on board has the political independence or will to say no to the US. They are financially and politically reliant slaves.

3.  It would be foolish in the extreme to believe that a gang of warmongers, like Obama, Cameron and Abbott, and repressive despots, like King Abdullah and al-Sisi, have come together to fight terrorism. The world has not seen worse terror in recent times than that inflicted on Iraq and Afghanistan by the US and its allies. Similarly, it is difficult to find more repressive regimes than those of the Middle East. Are we to now believe that these criminals are moving to save the world?

4.  The justification that the Iraqi regime has asked for this intervention is absurd. This is the same US-installed regime, notwithstanding recent cosmetic changes, that was imposed on Iraq by force after the last invasion. It is the same regime that has ruled Iraq for years, at the behest of the US, fostering and executing brutal sectarian violence against the people of Iraq, which directly led to the rise of groups like AQI and ISIS. Are we to now believe that this regime will lead the fight on the ground to save the people of Iraq?

5.  The last western aggression on Iraq, waged by the same "coalition" chanting for war now, lasted over a decade and left Iraq entirely ravaged. It resulted in the deaths of over half a million people, many of them innocent men, women and children. It left children being born with deformities till now due to the chemical weapons used by the US. It left the country ruled by sectarian warlords. It left thousands of western troops dead and many more suicidally depressed, mentally scarred for life. Can those who caused all this possibly have anything good to offer Iraq by invading it once more?

6.  The root cause of ‘terrorism' is western foreign policy. The Prime Minister's claim that "people wish to do us harm, not because of anything that we have done, but because of who we are" is utter nonsense. The link between western violence abroad and retaliatory violence against the west is well documented and established. As such, this invasion will only make matters worse, just as those before it did. If the issue were ‘tolerant' democratic societies, as the PM suggests, the threat to a Brazil or New Zealand would be the same as that to the US or Australia. Evidently, it is not.

7.  We commend the Muslim community for standing against this aggression and call on its organisations and activists to articulate their opposition clearly and consistently. We also call on the wider society to stand against this aggression, whereby those in power are exploiting everyone. The political leaders in this country, irrespective of party, are not only shamelessly serving the corporate elite at the expense of students, pensioners, families and all those struggling but are also making the country more vulnerable to attack by contiunually aggressing against people thousands of kilometres away.

Media Office of Hizb ut Tahrir in Australia

Contact: Uthman Badar, Media Representative, on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.">This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or 0438 000 465.