Thinking of Leaving Asstralia?

Howard Bush First Family

Be afraid, be very afraid. You can’t rely on the current Howard government to help you out if you’re in strife abroad. The value of being Australian diminishes daily under little Johnny’s uncaring, unscrupulous, double-dealing regime.

Outside court, opposition legal affairs spokesman Kelvin Thomson slammed Mr Bennett’s argument that the government had no legal obligation to help citizens abroad, saying it would “send a shiver down the spine” of Australians overseas.

He said the comments were in stark contrast to Mr Downer’s “boast back in 1997 that `the duty to protect our citizens overseas is a fundamental responsibility’.

Today’s Age editorial highlights Howard’s treason against us Aussies:

What a state of affairs. If there is no legal requirement, then for all intents and purposes a government can wash its hands of its duty to a citizen caught up in trouble abroad, irrespective of whether a person is perpetrator or victim. It makes carrying the Australian passport seem just a little less comforting.

The Judge hearing the Federal Court case against the Howard mob, Justice Brian Tamblin, has reserved his judgement due to the complexity of the case. One would think it would be cut and dried that the role of our government is to represent and protect the interests of its citizens wherever they may be. Apparently not.

Little Johnny’s mob could have past retrospective legislation to enable Hicks to be tried in Whorestralia had they wished and didn’t. Former Lib appointed judge, Stephen Charles, QC, comments on such a Whorestralian trial and reveals possible reasons why little Johnny failed to pursue a fair trial for Hicks in Whorestralia:

“The coercive methods used by investigators would be examined in detail, further damaging the reputations of the US military and both the US and Australian governments. The conclusion seems inescapable that the Australian Government was concerned that the evidence upon which the prosecution relied for a conviction of Mr Hicks would be rejected in a trial in Australia … and that it did not wish him to be tried before an Australian court, precisely because such a trial would have to be a fair one.”

Mr Charles is one of a band of former judges, including former Family Court chief justice Alastair Nicholson and former High Court judge Mary Gaudron, to have spoken out against the Federal Government’s treatment of Hicks.

Torquemada in Oz

Cheney warmongerWhorestralia is cursed until Sunday this week by the presence of arch-neocon Cheney. We are wondering what shennanigans the torturer has up his sleeve prior to the next US election.

It is understood he said Democrats in the US were riding public opposition to the war that could end up prejudicing their leadership credentials. He said the mood could easily shift if there was another terrorist attack.

Bin Laden would benefit immensely from the gungho Repubes winning the next US elections, as unlike the more sophisticated diplomatic Dems, the militaristic Repubes fall into his traps so easily. Thus, whether there’s to be a false flag op (and at this point because of Doodoo’s inveterate deceit, there would be a lot of people suspecting another attack would be just that) or the genuine article, the United Stupid of Vice well knows the lovely game of fear which he has played with his swooning public so successfully in the past.

Torquemada also alludes to his dark desires for future Iranian misadventures, endorsing

… U.S. Republican Senator John McCain’s view that the only thing worse than a military confrontation with Iran would be a nuclear-armed Iran.

“They appear to be pursuing the development of nuclear weapons.”

In his interview with the Australian, the ghoul hinted at possible timing for aggression by the United Stupids.

“You get various estimates of where the point of no return is,” Mr Cheney said, identifying nuclear terrorism as the greatest threat to the world. “Is it when they possess weapons or does it come sooner, when they have mastered the technology but perhaps not yet produced fissile material for weapons?”

Using Whorestralia as a sounding board, Cheney ‘appears’ to be geeing the world up to expect a military response to Iran’s supposed but in fact non-evident plans, ostensibly to further long held evil ambitions for US world hegemony.

Howard conflates Iraq with Iran, jumping on the torturer’s coat tails to paint by numbers the picture of the next imperial ‘enemy’.

“I don’t think there would be a country whose influence and potential clout would be more enhanced in that part of the world than Iran’s would be if the coalition was defeated in Iraq,” Mr Howard said.

“I don’t think you can separate the two.”

“Iran would be emboldened if the coalition was defeated in Iraq.”

“And that would be seen to have occurred if there was a significant coalition withdrawal.”

Yet Doodoo has burned his political capital and credibility in Iraq – its highly unlikely at this juncture that the Dems will permit him to whack Iran without some very convincing (non-manufactured) evidence of real intent by Iran to produce nukes, especially when they are currently attempting to remove Doodoo’s authorisation for the war against Iraq. Neither Russia nor China are keen on military ‘solutions’ so the US would need to ignore the UN Security Council unilaterally.

However, if the torturer and his fellow deluded neoziocons do get their way for more perks and profits for good mates Helliburton etc., the already stretched US would be fighting on three fronts which conceivably would swiftly become several more. US prestige, its economy and hegemony would decline more rapidly, and other economies, including ours, would follow. Al Qaeda would rejoice again as another trap yielded fruit – it would be bolstered with a flood of newly inspired fresh recruits. If Whorestralia supported the US militarily in its brand new adventures, naturally our own security would be further endangered. As our dollar dropped, foreign companies would have a field day buying up our mineral and other resources. Our wages and purchasing power would plummet as inflation and interest rates took off whilst our economy and wealth distribution statistics would lurch toward parity with our third world neighbours.

Gold, silver, oil and other fuels, essential goods and services would do comparatively well.

Little Johnny channels his gruesome hero by taking his usual vicious hard line against 85 Sri Lankan refugee boat people, who are accused of sabotaging their boat motor to avoid being turned back home on the high seas to probable death. Sri Lanka is the country where suicide bombing was invented, with a tripartite conflict going back years between the government, which disappears dissidents, thus provoking hatred and retaliation amongst the locals, insurgents in the south and guerillas in the north.

Read Michael Ondaatje’s “Anil’s Ghost” for sensational insight into the plight of the impoverished locals of Sri Lanka.

Coalition of the Gobbling vs Iraq 1

Cheney visit protests

With the planned withdrawal of all Danish troops by August 07, the Coalition of the Gobbling will lose another member entirely. Lithuania is considering removing its forces too. Bliar’s concurrent announcement of a reduction in troop numbers by one quarter is greeted with approval from Basrawis. The wily rodent and Bliar spin the troop reduction as success. More likely Bliar can read the writing on the wall and may be looking to avoid further confrontation with an angry local populace which would shred any tattered vestige of a chance he has remaining of claiming justification for the ill-considered Iraqi misadventure. Why were the Brit troops withdrawn and not redeployed to support Doodoo’s surge?

“We welcome any withdrawal of British forces from inside the centre of the city,” said Hakim al-Mayahi, head of the Basra provincial security council, which has had a fractious relationship with the British.

An AFP reporter who visited British forces in Basra and at the airbase last month found both under almost daily mortar attack from militias in the city.

“Iraqi forces in Basra are ready and able to ensure security. Every Basrawi wishes to see all British forces leaving at one time not gradually,” he said.

And Razzaq Nasir, a 58-year-old oil worker, was categoric: “There is no need for them. The British forces in Basra are a big problem for the Iraqi forces and for ordinary Basrawis.”

The Whorestralian prime monster, with the repugnant Lon Cheney visit upon us, sticks with his plans to retain the present level of troops and send more military trainers to Iraq and indicates he is considering more troops for Afghanistan, the central battleground of the Great Game and historical graveyard of empires.

But as British columnist Gwynne Dyer noted, Australian leaders long ago realized that the United States is the only country that might be willing to come to their aid in an emergency. Keeping the White House happy is an Australian priority.“If the United States invaded Mars,” Dyer wrote, “Australia would send a battalion along to guard the supply depot.”

Ugh.

Kevvie presses the political advantage:

KEVIN RUDD: If it’s ok in Mr Howard’s view for the Danes to pull out some 460 troops from Iraq, why is it not ok for 520 Australian troops to be brought home to Australia, some time next year?

Well, mate, maybe little Johnny is thinking of all those lovely barbies at Crawford he’d miss out on in his retirement.

Meanwhile, Prodi resigns when the Italian Senate refuses to back his pro-US foreign policy initiatives.

Rome was plunged into political turmoil after Mr Prodi failed to muster enough Senate votes to approve the continuing commitment to Italian troop deployments in Afghanistan and the expansion of a US military base at Vicenza.

Unfortunately Prodi’s resignation and consequent electoral turmoil may prove a gift to the way out there and round the bend Berlusconi camp if Prodi can’t rally support among the multitudinous factions that adorn Italian Parliament.

Devoid of the belated political nous exhibited by Bliar, Doodoo refuses to get the message that Iraqis really don’t want the United Stupids in their country and haven’t for years. Yet according to Cheney, the Dems won’t be able to prevent Doodoo’s surge.

Iraqi woman, Riverbend, horrified by an alleged coverup of rape by the pseudo-democratic Iraqi government and proposed execution of three Iraqi women, points out the COG was defeated long ago:

And yet, as the situation continues to deteriorate both for Iraqis inside and outside of Iraq, and for Americans inside Iraq, Americans in America are still debating on the state of the war and occupation- are they winning or losing? Is it better or worse. Let me clear it up for any moron with lingering doubts: It’s worse. It’s over. You lost. You lost the day your tanks rolled into Baghdad to the cheers of your imported, American-trained monkeys. You lost every single family whose home your soldiers violated. You lost every sane, red-blooded Iraqi when the Abu Ghraib pictures came out and verified your atrocities behind prison walls as well as the ones we see in our streets. You lost when you brought murderers, looters, gangsters and militia heads to power and hailed them as Iraq’s first democratic government. You lost when a gruesome execution was dubbed your biggest accomplishment. You lost the respect and reputation you once had. You lost more than 3000 troops. That is what you lost America. I hope the oil, at least, made it worthwhile.”

Kevvie vs Johnny 1

Pete Garrett setbackWhat a sensational, vicious week of chess it has been in the Australian parliamentary realm! The difficult Australian/US alliance, a balancing act every Australian prime monster has to handle, has remained in the spotlight. Why some pms feel the need to grovel to US presidents more than others is certainly an interesting phenomenon. Johnny has out-crawled all his recent predecessors, degrading our nation’s dignity and relationship with the world.

Over his insensitive Obama attack, Johnny was stoushed by Kevvie, and the world remembered Australia, marvelling at the socially divisive yobbo who heads it. Johnny fired back at Kev with one of his classic wedgies as he revealed the secret new US joint facility base at Geraldton, perhaps expecting to expose Pete as the Labor weak link because of his ‘idealistic’ anti-base youth.

Pete stonewalled, adroitly referred the issue to the appropriate portfolio, and drew the debate back to *his* portfolio and Johnny’s soft underbelly – climate change. From the point of view of a committed environmentalist like Pete, the urgent need to rid the nation of the environmentally irresponsible, corporate-lackey Howard mob through the only viable, political alternative would be paramount, and the abandonment of other principles, for the time being at least, a small price to pay.

(The ALP is organising a National Climate Change conference for late March/early April – prior to the National ALP Conference in April, where the 3 mine policy may change. We’ll be keeping a close eye on the climate change proceedings.)

Smoothly, Kevvie again took up the cudgels, presenting an alternative Iraq withdrawal plan that fits snugly with the now-dominant US Democratic party position. Projecting an image of personal integrity and Australian dignity to match his vision, he said:

“Of course we’re going to have a difference of view with them. I understand that and I don’t for the moment pretend that the Americans would welcome our policy on this question.

I understand that, but my first responsibility is not simply to comply with every element of US foreign policy, my responsibility is to say on certain areas, we are going to disagree, and have the courage to do so.”

Kev’s stance is likely to resonate well with voters, particularly considering the lack of support Australians have had for Australia’s participation in the illegal Iraqi debacle from the start. It should also go down well with Americans who at last are rejecting Dubyah’s fearmongering in droves. With a Democratic president, and specially if it’s Obama, Howard is likely to be a serious liability for the US/Oz alliance.

Despite Johnny’s shameless grovelling, Doodoo has decided Australia is not a suitable recipient for United Stupids’ F-22s, the world’s most advanced and expensive warplane. Maybe Doodoo wasn’t impressed by those rocket launchers going missing, some of which *still* haven’t been found. Considering those shoddy Collins subs and Sea Sprites, it’s probably best we didn’t get the F-22s anyway.

To top things off this week, Johnny hid behind Helen Clark’s skirts as the NZ press dogged him about his disgraceful onslaught on Barack Obama, from which he still refuses to resile.

SCOOP MEDIA:
Is it your job to protect the Australian Prime Minister from answering questions from the New Zealand media?

NZ PM HELEN CLARK:
I’m sorry. You continue to heckle from the back row of every news conference that I give and you’re not going to do it to this one. So I think we will be taking our leave.

HOWARD:
Sounds very familiar. Thank you. [Laughter]”

Very funny stuff.

Who’s the real scaredy cat?

Gutless HowardKevvie strikes back at Johnny with a near knockout blow, and although we wish he would bring the focus back to the government’s palpably weak point – climate change – while the issue is still hot and before Johnny shepherds the electorate into unctuous worship of his economic record, he is maintaining an impressive, logical front. Johnny’s actions, along with his quivering whiskers when interviewed by Kerry O’Brien on the 7.30 Report last night, betray the fact that he is losing the Iraq debate even without and perhaps in spite of a head to head confrontation with Kevvie.

Johnny’s mob stifled debate on Iraq in Parliament this morning – run away, run away – and this morning Johnny fails to up the ante on 2GB with Alan Jones, bleating that a national televised debate with Kevvie would be just a smokescreen.

Talk about projection. We also think that Johnny’s conviction, oft repeated on the 7.30 Report interview that Australia cannot afford American defeat and humiliation in Iraq may also be projection – it is Howard who needs ongoing conflagration to maintain with his comfortable war leader, best buddy of Doodoo image into the run up to our next election. Interestingly, Paul Kelly picks up on this too in a particularly scathing column.
Election Terror
Kevvie smartly rejoinders to Johnny on ABC: “What is his alternative strategy, if he’s a man of courage, to tell the Australian people about how he intends to win the war in Iraq.” Reasonably, Kev indicates his flexibility to consult with the US on early withdrawal and his approval of the Baker-Hamilton Iraq Study Group Report.

At this point, we have to wonder whether the Australian media is at last turning on Johnny?

Headline from The Australian: Rudd attacks ‘gutless’ Howard

Headline from The Age: ‘Gutless’ Howard gags debate

Leunig’s hilarious cartoon for today is also worth a squiz. And so is Patrick Leahy’s Valentine card from John to Doodoo.