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Antony Lowenstein points to this utterly bizarre Oz editorial on Iraq (2nd one down):
Ah yes, good old "sensible Australians". Gods fucking save us from them. The same dynamic is occurring in the US. The vast number of people surveyed want the troops brought home - but they're just "not the sensible people".
And what about the first highlighted bit? They admit that it's "unpopular" and "on current trends, unwinnable". And yet, goddammit, that doesn't mean we should re-evaluate it. We certainly shouldn't, say, remember that the Murdoch press (and in particular, the Australian) has been a relentless advocate for this stupid and criminal war. Don't mention the war!
Others have already made this point, but it bears repeating. If you were fucking wrong about the war (as the Australian was): Shut. The. Fuck. Up. You were wrong, plenty of others were right. You're still wrong, and the longer you hold onto these stupid views, the more wrong you get. The Iraq War has been a disaster in every single way. And it was a disaster that was completely forseeable - albeit not by the "sensible Australians" who write for The Australian's editorial page.
It's not clear to me that Rudd has committed to following the Americans to hell for as long as it takes. The piece in The Age today seemed to say he took issue with this characterisation. I think it's safe to say, though, that any Rudd ALP government could not be as idiotic in their boosterism for the war as the current mob. (See Downer, A. and Nelson, B.)
[update: Tim Dunlop had the same reaction I did.]
All of this means that there is now effectively no difference between the Government and Opposition when it comes to bringing the troops home. Last night in Washington, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer warned against any "precipitous withdrawal", saying such a move would have "disastrous" consequences. Mr Rudd's shift is likely to pay dividends to both the Government and Opposition. A precipitous withdrawal would be bad battlefield strategy and needlessly damage the US alliance. And politically, neither side seems eager to talk much about Iraq as both Mr Rudd and the Howard Government have every interest in keeping Iraq off the domestic agenda, though the Opposition could profitably highlight its commitment to a responsible pullout. The Government does not need the public being reminded of its commitment to an unpopular and, on current trends, unwinnable war. But despite this, sensible Australians do not wish to see ADF personnel beat a hasty retreat and leave a vacuum to be filled by al-Qa'ida insurgents and secular militias, thus contributing to yet another bloody betrayal of the Iraqi people.
Ah yes, good old "sensible Australians". Gods fucking save us from them. The same dynamic is occurring in the US. The vast number of people surveyed want the troops brought home - but they're just "not the sensible people".
And what about the first highlighted bit? They admit that it's "unpopular" and "on current trends, unwinnable". And yet, goddammit, that doesn't mean we should re-evaluate it. We certainly shouldn't, say, remember that the Murdoch press (and in particular, the Australian) has been a relentless advocate for this stupid and criminal war. Don't mention the war!
Others have already made this point, but it bears repeating. If you were fucking wrong about the war (as the Australian was): Shut. The. Fuck. Up. You were wrong, plenty of others were right. You're still wrong, and the longer you hold onto these stupid views, the more wrong you get. The Iraq War has been a disaster in every single way. And it was a disaster that was completely forseeable - albeit not by the "sensible Australians" who write for The Australian's editorial page.
It's not clear to me that Rudd has committed to following the Americans to hell for as long as it takes. The piece in The Age today seemed to say he took issue with this characterisation. I think it's safe to say, though, that any Rudd ALP government could not be as idiotic in their boosterism for the war as the current mob. (See Downer, A. and Nelson, B.)
[update: Tim Dunlop had the same reaction I did.]
