February 10, 2003

PM holds the line against UN force - smh.com.au

The Prime Minister, John Howard, has positioned Australia firmly alongside the United States in rejecting a European peace plan for Iraq, as the world divides into camps supporting options for war and peace.

Mr Howard, speaking in Washington where he met the hawkish US Vice-President, Dick Cheney, questioned the credibility of the Franco-German plan, saying it was "not a given" that it would reach the United Nations.

The proposal would send several thousand UN peacekeepers into Iraq to help enforce the weapons inspections.

Mr Howard's support came as France late yesterday increased the pressure on Washington by vetoeing NATO plans for measures to defend Turkey in the event of a US-led war.

As Mr Howard prepared for his meeting with the US President, George Bush (at 9am today, Sydney time) he said the only way of avoiding conflict was for the Iraqi leader, Saddam Hussein, to get "fair dinkum" and accept his obligations.

He had no reaction to comments by the UN chief weapons inspector, Hans Blix, that Iraq had shown a "change of heart" in its efforts to rid itself of weapons of mass destruction.

"For something serious to happen to turn around the direction of this whole thing, there would have to be a total change of attitude by Iraq. It's not good enough to give a little bit. This has happened before. We're not going to play that game again."

I think Australians are absolutely precious!
And Aussies, you should be proud that you elected such a fine man as John Howard to be PM--he is marvelous and is certainly keeping his focus on what's best for Australia!
Now that America's fallen out with France, it's time for us to boycott the frogs and buy more of that very fine Australian wine: those vintages from Down Under just keep getting better and better!
I recommend the Coonawara Shiraz!
And have we also thanked you for Mel Gibson, Tim Blair and even wildman Russell Crowe lately?!