Petition over US troops

A PETITION went online last week to tell the United States congress and president to keep US troops out of Papua New Guinea.
The petition is the work of a campaigner for global peace, David Swanson, Oxford economics professor David Vine and a Papua New Guinea diplomat and journalist, Dominic Sengi.
The petition, coming off the back of the recently concluded Defence Cooperation Agreement and Ship Rider Agreement, urges the congress and the president to “abandon plans for any naval or other military base in Papua New Guinea”.
“We also implore you,” the petition reads, “to recognise and act on Papua New Guinea and Pacific Island countries’ outstanding claims for long overdue compensation for environmental destruction resulting from US military operations during the World War Two, including the debris that congests the coastal seaways and oceans.”
“The PNG Constitution prohibits the entry into Papua New Guinea of any foreign military force.
“No domestic legislation in PNG has implemented the agreements the Government has made with the United States to allow US troops to enter.
“The people of PNG – and the world – reject the excuse of a Chinese threat that is being used by the US to justify its imperial expansion into PNG – and the world.
“Logic rejects the idea that such military expansion could be engaged in for the sake of democracy without the support of the people of Papua New Guinea.”
The petition is sponsored by World Beyond War; a group in which Swanson is executive director of.
Vine has published books decrying US military bases around the world.
Sengi has been a diplomat for 21 years and has commented on national security and issues of national interest.
The petition motto is: “Where US bases have been established, they have led to more wars.
“The solution is not more US bases.”
The petition was to be aired last night on Taiwan’s Channel News Asia.
Under the Defence Cooperation Agreement arrangements just entered into, the US plans a naval base on Manus and various deployments in Nadzab, Morobe; Komo, Hela, and somewhere in Central.