Open Letter to Australian Defense Minister Marise Payne

To the Hon. Marise Payne, I am sending you an update on a petition I began after Australia illegally attacked Syrian forces defending their country against ISIS late last year: https://www.change.org/p/marise-payne-withdraw-australian-forces-from-the-syrian-war/u/20719471\ A few weeks ago, after the US illegally shot down a Syrian plane targeting ISIS, Australia wisely suspended air combat missions over Syria for a few days. This took place after Russia threatened that it would treat any plane from the US-led coalition flying west of the Euphrates River as a potential target. We understand that enormous political and economic threats may have been made by our own corporatocracy within Australia to continue to support the US’s illegal actions in Syria but we encourage you to resist these pressures lest you and our soldiers get entangled in future war crimes trials. Amnesty International spokesperson Diana Sayed stated recently that the 225kg bombs dropped into the crowded streets of Mosul had a shock radius of 230 metres and resulted in needless casualties. “Pro-government forces, including Australia, failed to take feasible precautions to protect civilians during the battle for west Mosul – through launching barrages of indiscriminate, disproportionate and otherwise unlawful attacks, and failing to provide adequate warnings prior to bombardments. The realities of living under the Islamic State often meant people were trapped and unable to leave their homes,” she said. “Australia and its allies in Iraq should publicly acknowledge the massive loss of lives during the Mosul operation.” This comes hot on the heels of the recent revelations currently being investigated by the ADF that a number of its troops were involved in the covering up of unjust killings of young Afghans - the latest allegation of war crimes carried out by allied forces during the ongoing US-led occupation of the country, but not the first time Australian forces have been accused of criminal activity. In these revelations a decorated special-forces veteran, said the cases were a testament to a feared "culture of recklessness" during the Afghanistan mission. He claims he saw several innocent people killed who didn't need or deserve to die, in circumstances "unwarranted and ultimately avoidable" — behaviour in direct conflict with the army's stated ethos. Our petition now has close to 1,500 supporters who are demanding that you stop following the orders of your corporate constituents and follow the wishes of we the Australian people who demand that we withdraw our forces from Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan, publicly apologise, and pay war reparations for the numerous war crimes committed in our name. Regards, David Chibo Bulleen, Victoria