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CRYPTOGON Wed, 30 Apr 2008
The Director of the Government Communications Security Bureau (GCSB), Air Marshal Bruce Ferguson, said that the purpose of the radomes is simply to protect the dishes from the weather. This statement is a lie by omission.
Most—not all—political activism, focuses on symbols, abstractions, while the relevant and painful points remain behind the scenes. Guys, look at the underlying economic relationships between corrupt politicians and the corporations. That’s the smelly, messy stuff. Getting people to think differently about economic assumptions is the way to free New Zealand from the foreign entanglements that are becoming increasingly costly for our country.
That said, GE crops still aren’t allowed in New Zealand; neither is nuclear power. The credit for those miracles must go to the activists.
Opponents of the Waihopai base argue that it is primarily feeding information to the United States in support of wars New Zealanders do not support.
Mr Caddie said there were direct parallels between the Roman Empire and modern day America. He said the group, which called themselves the Ploughshares, followed Jesus’ example of resisting power on an ethical basis.
Mr Caddie told NZPA news agency the action took about two months to plan and the group did not really expect to succeed.
“We were expecting not to get anywhere close to it.”
The planning involved a lot of texting, emails and phone calls, which were not intercepted, he said.
“I guess it shows that the system doesn’t work that well.”
He said the three protesters who had been arrested hoped not to go to jail, but were prepared for it.
A statement by the group from their website said: “Our group, including a Dominican Priest, temporarily closed the base by padlocking the gates and proceeded to deflate one of the large domes covering two satellite dishes.
“At 6am we cut through three security fences surrounding the domes - these are armed with razor wire, infrared motion sensors and a high voltage electrified fence.
“Once inside we used sickles to cut one of the two 30-metre white domes, built a shrine and knelt in prayer to remember the people killed by United States military activity.”
The group said that it had financed its activities through “personal savings, additional part-time employment and a small interest-free loan from one of our supporters”.
In its justification for the attack, the group said it was responding to the Bush administration claim that intelligence gathering was the single most important tool in the “so-called war on terror” and that Waihopai was a part of that.
“This war will have no end until citizens of the world refuse to let it continue.”
It said that it had carried out the attack in the name of the “Prince of Peace”. The website contains Christian references to the Bible.
One of the protesters is Father Peter Murnane from the Dominican Priory in Auckland.
Father Chris Loughnan, who lives with Father Peter, said he was unaware of any arrests.
He said he was also unaware of the protest but it didn’t surprise him.
“It’s about New Zealand’s passive cooperation in war mongering. The information obtained at Waihopai is used in military intelligence,” Father Chris said.
Green Party foreign affairs spokesman Keith Locke said the party would be calling for a public debate and information on the cost and the purpose of the Waihopai base if it was part of the next government.
Mr Locke said the US spy base effectively compromised New Zealand’s independent foreign policy.
He said he had previously asked the Government for a breakdown of the GCSB’s budget but was refused. Mr Locke said the true cost of the spy base to New Zealanders was not known.
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