When asked about it again on Tuesday, Mr Morrison said the legal position of those who seek to travel to Ukraine to fight “remains very unclear”…
“Those disorganised civilian militias would effectively be putting people in the most extreme of situations, so we will not encourage anybody to go there and we would advise against it because you would be joining something, the status of which is completely unclear, and how it would be supported and how it would sit in any command structure with Ukraine’s forces I think is totally unknown.
“Others have described those sorts of things as suicide missions, and that’s not an unreasonable assessment.”
Disorganised, completely unclear and totally unknown are five words you don’t normally associate with a prudent, morally defensible arms consignment. Why are we lightening the burden for some of the richest countries on the planet anyway? And why are we arming unlawful combatants, by Mr Morrison’s own admission? He needs to slow down.
Up until 2020 we were one of the richer countries on the planet. We sure have squandered a lot since those days.
It’s generally OK … providing none of those militia groups wear red baseball caps, or drive pickup trucks. You have to understand the nuance of the situation.
With an election announcement imminent I suspect they’re getting polls done daily. This smells like a poll-driven announcement.
That’s right. These aren’t InSuRrEcTiOnIsTs we’re paying for here… 🙄
…So it’s perfectly OK to be arming them. 🙂
Just sucking up to the big boys. SloMo giving
hisour lunch money to the cool gang.Kristina Keneally has called on Scotty to prevent/make it a crime for “Right wing extremists” to travel to Ukraine to volunteer for the Russian side.
No mention of Right Wing Extremists traveling to Ukraine to volunteer for the other side.
My guess is that she and Scotty are competing for the Catholic vote here, both he and Albanese attended different Ukrainian Catholic Services on Sunday.
Speculative but plausible … a discussion of Russian air capabilities and whether they will escalate to a strategic bombing campaign.
https://aej.org/2022/02/28/the-mysterious-case-of-the-missing-russian-air-force/
I would argue that the Russian politicians would be extraordinarily stupid to allow strategic bombing … pretty much the entire world will turn against them if they do that. When Aleppo got bombed it caused a bit of a fuss, but that was far away and mostly brown people, and besides the USA was doing exactly the same thing when they bombed the crap out of Mosul in 2017 so the Americans couldn’t say too much at the time.
If Kiev gets bombed … that’s white people and a lot closer to the European news services, and the USA will quietly forget about Mosul (no one remembers what happened before all the COVID BS started up).
Excuse my naivety, but why would a ‘right wing extremist’ fight for the restoration of the Soviet Union by proxy?
What benefit would the Russians get by accepting them?
Sounds like a fantasy to me.
This is easy for once. If we are arming the Ukraine then it follows we believe Russia is the aggressor and Ukraine needs help. If the government is giving them arms then how can it be wrong in wanting to help the Ukrainians fight off the Russians.
If said volunteers can be charged then change the law!
How is it both Canadian and UK Foreign Secretaries support people going there to fight but ours says you could be charged.
You can understand Morrison panicking. Grace Tame and Brittany Higgins haven’t yet told him what to do about Ukraine.
Non Mentis
How is it both Canadian and UK Foreign Secretaries support people going there to fight but ours says you could be charged.
Look at a globe, you idiot.
Also, do you want to legitimise Australian “volunteers” heading off to wage Jihad in the Islamic world?
PS, following the example of Canada might not be very wise, the Canadian government has done some – eccentric – things of late.
I know you do not understand law but the only problem at present is POSSIBLY the law. If it is change it. Very easy to fight in Ukraine against Russia but not elsewhere.
You do score a lot of own goals but that is what deplorables do
Non Mentis
Have you become a warmonger? Or were you always one, but the fashionable opportunity to display your virtue wasn’t there? How very deplorable!
I’m beginning to think that I overestimated your educational attainments. Perhaps you didn’t finish kindy because you never made it through pre-school.
Poor, C.L.
Morrison is clearly talking about militias; the money is going to the Ukraine government (via NATO).
I’m aware of that, John. And the Ukrainian government is handing out rifles to anyone who rocks up.
When I heard from my wife this morning about the $70M, my second thought (after “Why?”) was whether this was Scummy’s idea or some sort of obligation set up by the US.
When I heard a clip of the SotU played on the Nine/Fairfax Radio news, it featured Sleepy Joe thanking a list of nations for their support over Ukraine, and Australia was in that list.
Bingo!
At least in my mind.