The Ploughshares activists who launched a courageous and well-executed assault upon the Waihopai spy base deserve to be congratulated on their efforts. Nothing can change the fact that the Waihopai facility has been constructed and is operated for purely evil purposes. The base is there to collect information on any threat to Anglo-American hegemony, and the information so-gathered is used to identify those who will be targets for punitive action by the imperial regime.
The regime's protestations on "Radio New Zealand National" that the information collected is only used to gain advantage in friendly discussions with "New Zealand's trading partners" is both ludicrous and revealing. Ludicrous becaue it is impossible to conceive that the pusillanimous New Zealand government would try to play hard ball with the United States, Britain, Australia or even China on the basis secret information gleaned from the Waihopai base. And revealing because it shows the essential amorality of a regime which thinks that the idea of spying on one's partner is in some way more acceptable or noble than the idea of spying on one's enemies.
To register support for the Ploughshares activists go to www.ploughshares.org.nz