Australian government's view on the war on terror - they're comparing it to the imperative of waging WWII. And they are saying Iraq ought not to be abandoned.
Yet no one is arguing for staying in Iraq for the right reasons: that Iraq should not be abandoned, because it ought to be properly reconstructed. (Whether the reconstruction is feasible is another matter, but no one wants to stick around and try. Where's all that 'western' idealism gone then, to 'bring democracy' to dictatorships like Iraq and theocracies like Afghanistan? Or was that slogan just part of the army recruiting promo?)
http://au.news.yahoo.com/060709/2/zpmy.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Friday February 23, 08:54 AM
<b>Nelson defends terror, Kokoda comparison</b>
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has defended remarks comparing the perils faced by Australia in 1942 with the dangers of the current war on terror.
Dr Nelson said that as in World War II, it was obvious the current generation faced a struggle which posed a real threat to democratic values and freedoms.
"Whilst it is much more difficult to see it than it was in 1942, the kind of struggles that we face in this century are no less of a threat to us, and Iraq is but one of the theatres in which we are fighting this," he told ABC Radio.
In his speech to a defence industry conference on Thursday, Dr Nelson said no Australian of 1942 needed convincing that the nation was in peril, and compared the struggle with that of the Kokoda Track.
"Today, in the year 2007 throughout the world, we face something which is quite different. It is harder to see, but it is a disparate global insurgency which is driven by people who are fanatically not only anti-American but opposed to the kind of liberal that countries like ours represent," he said.
Dr Nelson said the west could hand victory to the terrorists by not lasting the distance in Iraq.
"The most important thing is we have got to have the intestinal or moral courage to make sure that we prevail over the people who are involved in hijacking the name of Islam to build a violent political utopia "
(No one 'hijacked' the name of islam. The j-hadi terrorists just clarified the true meaning of this religion to the world - the meaning it has always had since the beginning of the religion. Until western governments realise this, they will never win the war on terror. They'll just keep fighting it again and again, as muslim moderates in their midst give birth to generations of j-hadis.)
Dr Nelson said the terrorists might not be able to out blast the west, but they could outlast us.
"Whilst it is not as easy to see as it was in arguably the most important year of Australia's history in 1942 that Australia had a problem, we have a problem," he said.
"It is very, very important that we don't simply say after a relatively short space of time: `Look, it is all too hard, we will leave it to somebody else and we will just give it away'.
"That is precisely what the terrorist networks throughout the world want."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>ADDED:</b>
It seems Dick Cheney, on visiting Australia, didn't receive a warm reception from some parts of the populace. But Cheney is glad that at least Australia is not abandoning America's enterprise in Iraq, even if the size of the Australian troops stationed there is quite small.
(1) http://au.news.yahoo.com/070212/2/12e56.html
Police form security cordon for Cheney
(2) http://au.news.yahoo.com/070222/23/12il8.html
Protests mark Cheney's first day in Sydney
(3) http://au.news.yahoo.com/070212/2/12e56.html (replaced story (1))
Australia, US respect each other: Cheney
Yet no one is arguing for staying in Iraq for the right reasons: that Iraq should not be abandoned, because it ought to be properly reconstructed. (Whether the reconstruction is feasible is another matter, but no one wants to stick around and try. Where's all that 'western' idealism gone then, to 'bring democracy' to dictatorships like Iraq and theocracies like Afghanistan? Or was that slogan just part of the army recruiting promo?)
http://au.news.yahoo.com/060709/2/zpmy.html
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin-->Friday February 23, 08:54 AM
<b>Nelson defends terror, Kokoda comparison</b>
Defence Minister Brendan Nelson has defended remarks comparing the perils faced by Australia in 1942 with the dangers of the current war on terror.
Dr Nelson said that as in World War II, it was obvious the current generation faced a struggle which posed a real threat to democratic values and freedoms.
"Whilst it is much more difficult to see it than it was in 1942, the kind of struggles that we face in this century are no less of a threat to us, and Iraq is but one of the theatres in which we are fighting this," he told ABC Radio.
In his speech to a defence industry conference on Thursday, Dr Nelson said no Australian of 1942 needed convincing that the nation was in peril, and compared the struggle with that of the Kokoda Track.
"Today, in the year 2007 throughout the world, we face something which is quite different. It is harder to see, but it is a disparate global insurgency which is driven by people who are fanatically not only anti-American but opposed to the kind of liberal that countries like ours represent," he said.
Dr Nelson said the west could hand victory to the terrorists by not lasting the distance in Iraq.
"The most important thing is we have got to have the intestinal or moral courage to make sure that we prevail over the people who are involved in hijacking the name of Islam to build a violent political utopia "
(No one 'hijacked' the name of islam. The j-hadi terrorists just clarified the true meaning of this religion to the world - the meaning it has always had since the beginning of the religion. Until western governments realise this, they will never win the war on terror. They'll just keep fighting it again and again, as muslim moderates in their midst give birth to generations of j-hadis.)
Dr Nelson said the terrorists might not be able to out blast the west, but they could outlast us.
"Whilst it is not as easy to see as it was in arguably the most important year of Australia's history in 1942 that Australia had a problem, we have a problem," he said.
"It is very, very important that we don't simply say after a relatively short space of time: `Look, it is all too hard, we will leave it to somebody else and we will just give it away'.
"That is precisely what the terrorist networks throughout the world want."<!--QuoteEnd--><!--QuoteEEnd-->
<b>ADDED:</b>
It seems Dick Cheney, on visiting Australia, didn't receive a warm reception from some parts of the populace. But Cheney is glad that at least Australia is not abandoning America's enterprise in Iraq, even if the size of the Australian troops stationed there is quite small.
(1) http://au.news.yahoo.com/070212/2/12e56.html
Police form security cordon for Cheney
(2) http://au.news.yahoo.com/070222/23/12il8.html
Protests mark Cheney's first day in Sydney
(3) http://au.news.yahoo.com/070212/2/12e56.html (replaced story (1))
Australia, US respect each other: Cheney