Bin Laden

In the words of The Cranberries “Everybody else is doing it, so why can’t we?”. If you didn’t know, that’s the name of one of their albums. Being a military man, as much as I wanted to avoid a post about Bin Laden, I really can’t.

Whether you agree with the War on Terror or not, or whether you agree with the coalition government’s decisions to invade Iraq and Afghanistan or not, let’s look at what has happened and what it means.

Obama summed this up quite well in his speech. He said “This is not a war on Islam.” And he’s right. Nobody in the coalition has anything against Islam – in principle. The reason why we’re in these countries is to stop the terrorism. It wouldn’t matter whether the perpetrators were Muslim, Catholic, or Buddhist.

This is about preventing violent, oppressive, torturous behaviour against innocent people. And don’t for one minute think that it’s just about stopping the behaviour against coalition countries.

I’ve served in both of these countries, and let me tell you – straight from the horse’s mouth – that the locals HATE organisations like al Qaeda and the Taliban. The locals want to live in peace. They want their kids to be able to go to school. They want to be able to run their small businesses, and they want to be able to go home at night and spend time with their families, eating together and playing together.

That doesn’t happen if you’re being oppressed by these terrorist organisations. I could go on and on and on about how these organisations treat their citizens, what they put them through, and the ridiciulous reasons they have for killing their own people. A great example is one of Bin Laden’s final acts – he tried to use a woman as a human shield to protect himself.

What this post is supposed to be about is what is going to happen now. Sure, this brings an end to Bin Laden’s reign, and for a couple of weeks there will be some pretty major disruption to al Qaeda. But the fighting will go on. Al Qaeda and the Taliban have been fighting for centuries, and the coalition’s involvement is a blip on their radar.

But for the last ten years, the difference we have made is nothing short of astounding. When I was in Iraq, my CO was a genius. For his time over there, he won a Distinguished Service Cross, and had previously won a Commendation for Distinguished Service, and a Conspicious Service Cross.

One of the first things he did when he arrived was to visit the local sheiks – and there were about 20 of them – and discuss with them what we were there for (which was to protect the Japanese Engineers while they rebuilt schools, hospitals and other infrastructure) and to ask them what they wanted and expected from us.

Shortly after that, one of our patrols was sent into a local market place, for what’s known as a “Hearts and Minds” activity. They parked a LAV at the markets and invited the locals to come and have a look. But everyone was afraid and nobody wanted to see. So one of the young soldiers physically grabbed one of the locals, dragged him over to the LAV and let him touch it and go inside.

After that, there was no stopping them. Everyone came to see, and they all started chatting with the Aussie soldiers – not that anyone knew what the other was saying, of course! The locals then started to understand who we were, and what we were like. When we first got there, they couldn’t differentiate between the different coalition countries, but they very quickly learned about the Australians.

They understood that we weren’t there to hurt them. We weren’t there to oppress them. We were there to help them. And it didn’t take long before our patrols were being stopped by locals, and given information on “the enemy”. And the same happened in Afghanistan.

Locals understand, and support, the coalition. They know why we’re there, and they thank us for their help. Thanks to the coalition, locals can get medical help. Kids can go to school. Families can run their market stalls and make enough money to feed themselves. All things that were not permitted during Taliban rule.

I’m glad Bin Laden is dead. Not for what it will do in the immediate future, but for what it means to the big picture. Australians keep calling for our troops to be sent home because we keep losing young men. And that is the wrong message. The death of Bin Laden lets everyone know that we will not stop until this is over.

It tells the Taliban, al Qaeda, Jemaah Islamiyah and all those other organisations, that if you attack us, we will fight back. And we will fight back until we get you. If Australia sent their troops home, the message would be “Kill enough of our soldiers and we’ll pull out”. It’s what the UN do, and they have absolutely NO credibility around the world.

War creates casualties. Nobody denies that. If you think that governments go to war without analysing this aspect, you’re naive. It’s about the biggest factor they consider. They want estimates, with supporting evidence, of how many soldiers will die. No leader sends their troops to battle lightly. Sun Tsu teaches us that fighting is pretty much the last straw.

So yes, I’m happy Bin Laden is dead. Am I naive enough to think this will end it all? Of course not. In fact, it will probably strengthen the resolve of terrorists – at least in the short term. But what this does, is to go a long way to showing we’re in it for the long haul, and that we will do what we set out to do.

If you agree – or disagree – feel free to tell me.

Screwed by the Government

Right, let’s go. Despite my intention to try and keep my current work under wraps, I need to reveal that I’ve served my country for over 20 years, seen three operational tours, and moved insterstate more than 13 times during my career. I have lived, and held a driver’s license, in every state and territory on mainland Australia (not Tasmania, because the job I do doesn’t exist down there). And after all that, even though I’m not Gen Y, I’d like to think that the Government would at least say “Thanks for your commitment”. But no, they have said “F**k you”.

To make matters slightly more clear, I’m talking about divorce – with kids. I’m sure my ex would see things differently, but I have worked my arse off over the last 20 years, and been pushed from pillar to post – not to mention being thrown into such wonderful countries as Afghanistan. And when I divorced my ex, just how much do you think my service and dedication has counted for? Not a f**king cent mate, that’s how much.

In the property settlement, SHE walked away with more of my super than I did. 20+ years of paying into super, and now I can’t afford to retire at age 60 (although I’m sure she can). Our kids live with her for most of the year, so as we live in different states, I get my kids one week out of each school holidays plus the odd long weekend.

So because of the disadvantage of not being able to see my kids, I currently pay over $10,000 per year in Child Support. It’s not that I’m against supporting my kids – I love them to death. I live in a capital city, and when we separated, the ex decided to move to Bumfuck NSW where her parents are. She COULD work in my city, allowing me to see my kids more, but won’t. And I can’t get a job where she lives. So that costs me money.

I recently did some sums, because after 20 years, I’d like to move on and start a career that doesn’t involve me going to strange lands where everyone wants to kill me. But it turns out, that with tax, child support, and the Family Tax payments that the ex gets, I have to earn almost three times as much as her just so we can bring home the same amount of money. How the f**k is that fair?

She earns around $40k per year. I have nothing against that, because if I was getting paid by HER, I’d probably earn as little as f**king possible as well. For me to bring home the same amount of money as her, I need to earn in the vicinity of $110,000. Is that fair? Is it, Jenny Macklin (Federal member for families and member for jagajaga)?

To highlight how I’m being punished, the ex has a degree in psychology, and with a few more year’s study could start her own practice. But why would she? I’m supplementing her salary, so she CHOOSES not to work to her full potential. And the Government decides that’s MY fault – because I have to pay more.

Sure, I understand that my boys cost a lot to raise – we had them for about two weeks over Christmas, and we all know that entertaining kids during holidays is the most expensive time. We go through the same thing every time they visit, because it’s holidays, and despite XBox, Nintendo, FOXTEL and the playground around the corner, they deserve the odd treat. And taking the four of us out for a lunch costs around $100. A trip to the movies: $70 for tickets, plus $10 each for food = over $100. I understand that my ex has to pay for school supplies, food and clothing, but isn’t that what my Child Support payments are supposed to help with? And why does the Government seem to think that those things are going to cost SO F**KING MUCH?

As I said, I love my kids and would give anything for them, but it’s shit like this that makes me understand why some Dad’s stop work and live on welfare. It just doesn’t seem fair that I have to work 50+ hours per week and pay my ex around the equivalent of 40% of her salary (what it would cost if I earned $110k).

The Government seems so f**king intent on making sure the Dad’s are working their arses off so the single Mums aren’t disadvantaged, that they lose sight of the fact that I’m trying to rebuild a life, too. My ex walked away with around 60% of everything we own, including the cash we had in the bank. And most of that money was what I was paid for going to these Middle Eastern countries and putting my life on the line for my country.

You know what Minister for Families? F**k you. On behalf of all those working Dad’s out there who rent shitty little houses while their ex’s buy a brand new home with their Child Support money, I say F**k you. Get off your arse, and think about how you’re destroying the family unit. Think about the Dad’s who sit at home at night crying because they can’t afford to see their kids – and then have to pay more money because of that.

And to the Tax Office – F**k you, too. Defence has arranged a home loan to allow military personnel to get a slightly reduced interest rate when they buy a house. But guess what? The Tax Office calls that a Fringe Benefit. So….if I use the loan, the subsidy on the home loan I get is reported as a benefit – around $16,500 actually. So I get to pay my ex EVEN MORE Child Support. Is that f**king fair? Of course not.

Sort your shit out, people. Stop thinking about the “poor” mothers who can’t get a job because they have to look after their kids. Why would they WANT to get a job? If they do, they get less from their ex’s. Maybe I should walk away from the military and sit on my fat arse all day playing XBox and watching porn on the internet. I can tell you now that I’d probably be financially better off by doing that, instead of doing the honourable thing and getting a job to defend my country.