Australia’s pro-war, war-making, former PM John Howard rejected by International Cricket Council (ICC)

Australia is a “look-the-other-way” society. Australia has been complicit in horrendous crimes against humanity but steadfastly ignores the appalling consequences. This is dramatized by the rejection by non-European representatives of the nomination of warmonger and war-maker John Howard as vice-president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) - yet there is Australian and New Zealand upset because "no reasons were given".

Australia has participated in all post-1950 US Asian wars, horrendous wars that have been associated with 24 million violent deaths or non-violent deaths from deprivation, the breakdown of avoidable deaths being 1 million (Korea), 13 million (Indo-China, , Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam), 4.4 million (Iraq), 4.5 million (Afghanistan), 0.8 million (global opiate drug-related deaths due to US restoration of the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium industry), and 0.3 million (Palestine; pro-Zionist Australia has made donations towards the Palestinian Genocide tax deductible and has declared that Hamas, which won 76 out of 132 seats in the 2006 Occupied Palestinian elections, to be a “terrorist organization”).

These atrocities are holocausts (huge numbers of people have died) and also genocides as per Article 2 of the UN Genocide Convention which defines “genocide” as “acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic, racial or religious group” (see “UN Genocide Convention: http://www.edwebproject.org/sidesho... ).

Indeed I have made repeated formal complaints to the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) re various US Alliance, NATO, EU, Australia, New Zealand and UK involvements in the ongoing Palestinian Genocide, Iraqi Genocide, Afghan Genocide, Muslim Genocide, Aboriginal Genocide, Biofuel Genocide and Climate Genocide (see: http://sites.google.com/site/muslim... ).

Yet if you consult the taxpayer-funded Australian Broadcasting Commission (the ABC, Australia’s equivalent of the UK BBC) via their search engine that addresses “the entire ABC site” you will find zero or negligible reference to Palestinian Genocide, Iraqi Genocide, Afghan Genocide, Muslim Genocide, Aboriginal Genocide, Biofuel Genocide and Climate Genocide ( for a detailed analysis of this extraordinary Australian holocaust ignoring see “Media lying by omission: holocaust ignoring and genocide ignoring by taxpayer-funded ABC”, Bellaciao, 9 April 2010: http://bellaciao.org/en/spip.php?ar... ).

This extraordinary Australian holocaust ignoring has been recently dramatized by the rejection of the Australia-, UK- and New Zealand-supported nomination of war-maker John Howard as vice-president (and thence ultimately president) of the International Cricket Council.(ICC). John Howard has an appalling record of support for US Asian wars and indeed enthusiastically made Australia complicit in both the Iraq War and the Afghan War. Yet John Howard and other Australasians are upset because “no reason was given” for his rejection as vice-president of the ICC.

It appears that many in Australia don’t understand that racism, bigotry, Apartheid, war and mass murder are simply not “cricket”. Many in Australia just doesn’t get it when it comes to African and Asian objections to racial discrimination and horrendous war against Africans and Asians.
Many Australians no doubt don’t understand why the International Cricket Council (ICC) should reject the UK-, Australia- and New Zealander-supported nomination of pro-American warmonger and war maker John Howard for vice-presidency of the ICC.

Many Australians would simply not understand that a person like former Australian PM John Howard, who is complicit in illegal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and the deaths of millions of people, is simply unfit to lead the International Cricket Council (ICC) and indeed should be arraigned for war crimes before that other ICC, the International Criminal Court (ICC).

Yet John Howard and supporters complain that “no reason was given” for the ICC decision to reject the nomination of John Howard for the vice-presidency of the ICC.

Former Australian PM and cricket fan John Howard is an extreme rightwing warmonger, opposed sanctions against anti-Indian, anti-African and anti-Asian Apartheid South Africa and has been a loyal supporter of American imperialism and in particular of American wars (the US has invaded about 30 countries since 1945 and White Australia has participated in all post-1950 US Asian wars, wars that have been associated with 24 million violent deaths or non-violent deaths from deprivation).

Much to his disappointment, the Caribbean, African and Asian members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) united to reject his UK-supported nomination by Australia and News Zealand for the Vice Presidency of the ICC (and hence the Presidency is several years’ time).
According to Adelaide Now (30 June 2010): “ Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard failed in his bid to become vice president of the International Cricket Council, after his name was withdrawn today because of insufficient support. The ICC said in a statement today that Cricket Australia and Cricket New Zealand, which jointly proposed Howard for the job, have been asked to submit a new candidate by August 31” (see “Former PM misses out on ICC”, Adelaide Now, 30 June 2010: http://www.adelaidenow.com.au/sport... ).

The Australian Cricket Board had nominated cricket-watching former PM John Howard while New Zealand backed its former chairman and ICC representative Sir John Anderson for the position of vice president of the ICC but eventually they put forward John Howard. If it had been successful John Howard would have become ICC president after 2 years.

The Australia and New Zealand nomination of John Howard was supported by the UK but met growing opposition on the board from Africa (Zimbabwe and South Africa) and from South Asia.
The Executive Board of the ICC is composed of the presidents and chairmen of the so-called 10 Test-playing nations: Australia, England, New Zealand, Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, South Africa, West Indies and Zimbabwe.

According to leading Australian cricket writer Peter Roebuck: “And now comes the long-feared divide between black and white. All six predominantly black countries objected to Howard. The three white nations backed him.” (see “Tragic cricket failure as Howard sent to pavilion”, The Age, 1 July 2010: http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/tr... ).

However whatever the machinations of the ICC it is important to see why Caribbean, African and Asian countries would have objected to this cricket watching, non-cricket playing, extreme right wing former PM of Apartheid Australia, a country that has participated in all post-1950 US Asian wars and which variously applies race-based laws and regulations against Indigenous Australians as well as Afghan refugees and Tamil refugees.

John Howard has had extraordinary double standards on Apartheid South Africa and Mugabe Zimbabwe. According to the ultraconservative newspaper The Australian: “Howard’s political past caught up with him. His opposition to sanctions against apartheid South Africa, believing they would do more harm than good, and support for selected sanctions and travel bans against Zimbabwe’s Mugabe regime, which included Zimbabwe Cricket president Peter Chingoka, were held against him.” (see “John Howard pays price of political past”, 1 July 2010, : http://www.theaustralian.com.au/new... ).

John Howard had also raised the ire of the cricket-mad Sri Lankans by made criticisms of Sri Lankan bowler Muttiah Muralitharan for alleged “chucking” (see “Howard bowled over by ICC”, 30 June 2010: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/... ).

However, worst of all by far, John Howard has an appalling record of support for horrendous US violence in Latin America, Africa and Asia (the US has invaded about 30 countries since 1945). Howard has supported Australian involvement in all post-1950 US Asian wars, atrocities that have been associated so far with 24 million violent and non-violent avoidable deaths (mostly of women and children), the breakdown of violent and non-violent excess deaths being Korea (1 million), Indo-China (Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam; 13 million), Palestine (0.3 million), Iraq (4.4 million), Afghanistan (4.5 million), and opiate drug-related deaths from US restoration of the Taliban-destroyed Afghan opium industry (0.8 million) (see “Muslim Holocaust, Muslim Genocide”: http://sites.google.com/site/muslim... ).

Howard has been a prominent supporter of US-backed Apartheid Israel even when it was bombing 25,000 Australian citizens in Lebanon in 2006 (indeed the Israelis have named a forest after him on stolen, ethnically cleansed Indigenous Palestinian land; see “”Howard’s dubious Jewish National Fund honor”, Electronic Intifada: http://electronicintifada.net/v2/ar... ).

John Howard ordered the illegal Australian invasions of Afghanistan in 2001 and of Iraq in 2003 (see “John Howard”, Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Howard ).

Data from the UN Population Division, UNICEF, WHO and the medical epidemiological literature (for methodology details see my book "Body Count. Global avoidable mortality since 1950": http://globalavoidablemortality.blo... ) indicate that in the Occupied Palestinian, Iraqi and Afghan Territories post-invasion non-violent excess deaths from war criminal Occupier-imposed deprivation total 0.3 million, 1.1 million and 3.5 million, respectively; post-invasion violent deaths total about 12,000, 1.4 million and about 1 million, respectively; under-5 infant deaths total 0.2 million, 0.8 million and 2.4 million, respectively; and refugees total 7 million, 5-6 million and 3-4 million, respectively, with a further 2.5 million Pashtun refugees generated in the major cricket-playing country of Pakistan (for details Google "Muslim Holocaust, Muslim Genocide": http://sites.google.com/site/muslim... ) .

Former Australian Liberal Party national president John Valder stated "Bush, Blair and Howard, as leaders of the three members of the coalition of the willing, inflicted enormous suffering on the people of Iraq. And, as such, are war criminals. I believe the only deterrent to a repetition of the Iraq situation is punishment in some form as war criminals" (see "Howard is a war criminal", Sydney Morning Herald, 19 July 2004: http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004... ).

However, it was not just former Federal Liberal Party president John Valder who wanted Howard, Bush and Blair prosecuted as war criminals.

Thus Dr Mahathir of Malaysia (who wonderfully reduced Malaysia’s infant mortality to about that of former Occupier Britain) advocated NGO tribunal war crimes trials for Bush, Blair and Howard, stating "We should not hang Blair if the tribunal finds him guilty, but he should always carry the label "War Criminal, Killer of Children, Liar". And so should Bush and the pocket Bush of the Bushland of Australia" (“Malaysia’s Mahathiir inaugurates peace conference: “Bush, Blair murdered more than Saddam, Qaeda””, Daily Times, 6 February 2007: http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/defaul... ).

Indeed outstanding Jewish British writer and Nobel Laureate, Harold Pinter, in demanding war crimes trials for Bush and Blair before the ICC over the Iraq War atrocity, stated (2005) "How many people do you have to kill before you qualify to be described as a mass murderer and a war criminal"? One hundred thousand? More than enough, I would have thought. Therefore it is just that Bush and Blair be arraigned before the International Criminal Court of Justice" ("Art , Truth and Politics", Nobel Prize Acceptance speech, Countercurrents, 2005: http://www.countercurrents.org/arts... ).

The 8 million deaths from the 21st century Iraq and Afghan Wars? More than enough, I would have thought. Warmonger John Howard should be arraigned before the International Criminal Court.

Yet White Australia doesn’t seem to understand as revealed by the quotations below.

Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke: "What the genesis ... was, we don’t know, that is one of the frustrating things apart from not having any reasons. You hope it doesn’t affect the relationship but it obviously puts a block there for a while and makes you wary…[I am] Gutted and incredibly disappointed that a man of John Howard’s stature has been knocked off for this job” (see “John Howard’s bid to lead the International Cricket Council is rejected”, Fox Sports, 30 June 2010: http://www.foxsports.com.au/story/0... ).

John Howard: "There were no reasons given, it should have been approved under the new protocol that was hammered out 18 months ago. I was given no reason and Cricket Australia and Cricket New Zealand were given no reason. That is insulting to those two cricket bodies because they behaved with complete integrity and total good faith" (see “ICC asks Australia to drop Howard bid”, ABC News, 2 July 2010: http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/... ).

Indeed a common theme of media coverage has been "no reasons were given".

Whatever the widely-touted machinations of non-European members of the International Cricket Council (ICC), the core reasons for John Howard’s unfitness to lead the ICC should have been his complicity in war criminal mass murder of millions of Asian women and children in the illegal and genocidal Iraq War and Afghan War (for the shocking details see “Muslim Holocaust, Muslim Genocide”: http://sites.google.com/site/muslim... ).

The Governments of the non-European members of the International Cricket Council (ICC) – and indeed all decent world governments - should demand the arraignment of John Howard for war crimes before that other ICC, the International Criminal Court.