| Clean Green New Zealand - Yeah
Right
†
February 2007
Our clean green image is a farce. One need only
look as far as the levels of mercury in New Zealand waters and our
lack of recycling for examples. And so it is with our military prestige.
Once something to be revered, it is now, in less than a generation,
degraded, rundown and sorely lacking in experienced personnel due
to an exodus which began after East Timor. It only perpetuated after
the disbandment of the Combat Air Wing of the RNZAF, which destroyed
our airborne offensive capacity once and for all, and has continued
with the adoption of the NZLAV and many soldiers in the Army voting
with their feet.
Issues like pay rates were only dealt with at the
last possible moment. East Timor found the military in the media
forefront, exactly where the government wishes it was not. So, as
a result, the public gains temporary awareness, and the government
predictably looks to find favour and ensure some sort of pay equity
with our Australian counterparts.
The first directive of any Defence Force of any
nation is the defence of its people, its territory and the upholding
of those values it claims to hold dear. This then extends to the
region in which it considers itself part. Other requirements are
secondary. The New Zealand Defence Force directives are now so manipulated
by government that few can recall its inherent purpose.
If war on New Zealand territory, or even in the
South Pacific is difficult to imagine, then perhaps a capacity to
affect a proper response to even a mild nationwide civil emergency
would have more personal impact.
In 2002 I proposed a terrorist scenario to the then
Defence Minister Mark Burton. In his mandatory reply there was no
acknowledgment of it. A somewhat simplified version goes like this:
A single C-130 aircraft carries 80 operatives into
New Zealand airspace. In small groups they parachute into several
strategic locations. Each is willing to make the ultimate sacrifice
in an agenda few of us could comprehend. Each carries a rifle, 300
rounds of ammunition and adequate explosives for their appointed
tasks. Critical infrastructure is hit in rapid succession. After
their primary missions are completed they systematically expend
their ammunition on innocent civilians, continuing until such time
as they are caught or killed by local authorities.
The Mercury power crisis was an accident and not
the result of malicious deliberate well-executed military action.
Our allies could not respond with significant weight, nor should
they considering we are unable to make reasonable efforts for our
own self-defence. This demonstrates just how out of touch politicians,
in general, are with prevailing issues of Defence and regional security.
With the Russians beginning to press a claim to
the Arctic, the Chinese likewise press their own claims, no matter
how subtle, towards the Antarctic. It may be an illusive matter
of geography for those in power, but New Zealand is the only substantial
landmass between Australia and the ice.It seems the Americans have
a far better grasp of the strategic situation this creates than
the greater majority of New Zealanders. Benign strategic situations
might exist somewhere in the world of which I am unacquainted, but
it is certainly nowhere in the Pacific with which I am familiar.
Global experts certainly beg to differ with the Labour party viewpoint.
The problem with clouds is, they don't always have silver linings.
If you are caught in this kind of storm you need more than an old
oil skin.
Many cite geographical isolation as justification
for a degenerate attitude towards Defence issues. World War One
found us under attack by German ships, including one named Komet.
World War Two, likewise was no less a dilemma with the Japanese
on our very doorstep. Well prior to that, fear of the Russians had
some severe investments in coastal defences installed. This includes
the famous Armstrong disappearing gun. So, in the age of the supersonic
jet fighter, midair refuelling and airborne assaults, I do wonder
who exactly advises our current government on strategic concerns.
Drawing on the basic terrorist scenario above, we
have no air defence to speak of. There is no airborne counter. Naval
assets must be in the right place at the right time. Even the Mistral
man portable air defence missile system brought for the NZ Army
in 1999 (one might suggest reactionary spending in relation to East
Timor) is a dire last-ditch option for ground forces.
There is no Close Air Support for our new NZLAVs.
That leaves our ground troops horrifically exposed to attack from
the air. There is no acceptable level of air defence, thereby permitting
a relatively simple invasion of our airspace to turn into a nightmare
at the hands of less than 100 well-motivated extremists.
In common terms, this is like going to a doctor
and expecting him to work on you with a hacksaw and nail clippers.
You would expect your mechanic to have a socket set when he went
to work on your car. Yet, by default, this nation expects those
in its Defence Forces to defend it, to deter conflict, or rescue
it from civil disaster in just such a manner.
Only when damage is visited upon our peace-loving
state do people take seriously the issues of defence, or the capabilities
unique to the Armed Forces for such contingencies. But then it is
too late. Selfishness means such concerns are only considered when
the consequences become personal.
Let me assure you, war is very personal when it
is on your own streets. Politicians can visit war zones all over
the world... but they can as easily leave. In this generation, they
most certainly are incapable of envisioning what they see elsewhere
occurring in their own hometown.
Those who truly love peace are willing to make the
investment in maintaining that peace through reasonable deterrence,
regional cooperation in security and an honest appraisal of global
matters. Most nations either have a recent historical grasp of the
issues, or are stuck right in the middle of set-piece examples.
New Zealand has neither. One can dream for a while, but eventually
it is time to wake up. If you wake to a nightmare you most certainly
will not be able to get back to sleep.
In the real world, aggressors bide their time,
they watch and wait. Real needs override treaties, goodwill and
any sense of right and wrong. A nation either accepts this and works
within a framework to ensure they are not preyed upon, thus ensuring
the rest of the world sees their willingness to protect those things
they hold dear, or they fall victim to the age-old human condition
- belligerence.
Hitler, Stalin, Pol Pot, Idi Amin and countless
other examples in history did not see reason. To believe that the
contemporary world is any different is hardly wise. Several millennia
of civilisation (if you can call it that) proves our inability to
gain that which we desire the most.
Defence is a national concern and must be addressed.
We teach our children not to fight, but this should not forgo them
learning how to defend themselves. The streets are not safe at night.
A personal alarm is good. So are friends to walk us home, self-defence
lessons, lit paths and money for a taxi. Don't expect your country
to forgo such things in an increasingly violent world.
Our Defence Forces have been slowly retrograded
towards a “peacekeeper only” force, their warfighting
capacity moulded to this purpose alone. The government counts on
a naive and complacent public for such short-sighted policies to
be put in place, thereafter permitting them to perpetuate.
The government is meant to serve the people. The
Armed Forces are in place to serve their nation yet having scant
capacity to do so. This is a bill, for our families, our loved ones,
our nation and our future, we can ill afford to ignore.
While one gets to vote but once a term, a voter
has the constant right to demand even the most basic services of
any kind. The state of any military in the West directly reflects
the state of its nation's economy, its will, and its sense of self.
As a nation we have a great deal of work to do.
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