AUSTRALIAN FOREIGN MINISTER ADVOCATES POLITICAL ASSASSINATION

Australian Foreign Minister, Senator Bob Carr, has suggested that a political assassination maybe needed in order to bring about the downfall of Syrian president Bashir al-Assad. It wasn’t clear whether or not Carr was referring to al-Assad himself.

Carr was speaking on the ABC’s Four Corners program last night. While on the one hand Carr was talking about assassination in order to effect regime change, he was also telling his audience: "We do know there is a body of opinion in the Arab world running strongly that says 'we do not want extremism, we want democracy denied to us for so long'."

Someone needs to tell Bob Carr that political assassinations is what extremists do and that there is absolutely nothing ‘democratic’ about assassinating leaders. He might also be reminded of the nature of government that is likely to replace al-Assad in the light of there being suicide bombers being used by the rebels.

Has the Western world really come to this? Is assassination going to become the new norm to ensure the West gets its way with governments it doesn’t like? Since when have Foreign Ministers of so-called Western democracies publicly advocated the assassination of government leaders in order to change governments of a foreign power – no matter who they are? We all know it goes on from time to time but for a serving minister of a Western government to publicly advocate committing what is a crime under international law is a major paradigm shift embracing a whole new set of rules that will see the end of governmental normality and the beginning of a murderous free for all for global political power.

It will be only a matter of time before the West’s enemies will resort to similar practices and we begin to see the killings of Western political and military leaders.