July 22, 2005

Ozzie PM John Howard wins the Man of the Hour award for his stirring speech yesterday condemning terrorism.
As he and Brit PM Tony Blair gave a joint press conference in the wake of 4 attempted bombings of London public transport, he calmly, but firmly and eloquently rose to the occasion of saying what needed to be said when the 2 leaders were attacked by Leftist journalists (Are there any other kind?) about the Iraq war:
John Howard sets a reporter straight (if possible)

Can I just say very directly, Paul, on the issue of the policies of my government and indeed the policies of the British and American governments on Iraq, that the first point of reference is that once a country allows its foreign policy to be determined by terrorism, it's given the game away, to use the vernacular. And no Australian government that I lead will ever have policies determined by terrorism or terrorist threats, and no self-respecting government of any political stripe in Australia would allow that to happen.

Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq.

And I remind you that the 11th of September occurred before the operation in Iraq.

Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor. Are people by implication suggesting we shouldn't have done that?

When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on the 7th of July, they talked about British policy not just in Iraq, but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn't be in Afghanistan?

When Sergio de Mello was murdered in Iraq -- a brave man, a distinguished international diplomat, a person immensely respected for his work in the United Nations -- when al Qaeda gloated about that, they referred specifically to the role that de Mello had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations administrator in East Timor.

Now I don't know the mind of the terrorists. By definition, you can't put yourself in the mind of a successful suicide bomber. I can only look at objective facts, and the objective facts are as I've cited. The objective evidence is that Australia was a terrorist target long before the operation in Iraq. And indeed, all the evidence, as distinct from the suppositions, suggests to me that this is about hatred of a way of life, this is about the perverted use of principles of the great world religion that, at its root, preaches peace and cooperation. And I think we lose sight of the challenge we have if we allow ourselves to see these attacks in the context of particular circumstances rather than the abuse through a perverted ideology of people and their murder.

Wow.
Trey Jackson has the video if you didn't see it on TV or if you'd like to see it again or keep it for your files--it's worth keeping.
(And if you're feeling generous, do hit the tip jar for Trey; his bandwidth costs are outrageous and his video clips are singular.)

To be honest, Howard not only elucidated the righteous "cause" of the WOT, but he "saved" Tony Blair who was choking...again.
Before the bombings in London on 7/7 and yesterday, we used to think Tony was so eloquent, but he hasn't been handling these emergency press conferences very well and if I were English, I wouldn't be assured in the least by his lame "Remain calm." exhortations.
John Howard has had the fate of being in the eye of the storm when terrorist killers have struck;
not only did he happen to be visiting Blair in Britain when they endured a second wave of (attempted) terror bombings as well as being in charge when 88 Australians were murdered in Bali, but he was in Washington, D.C. on 9/11 and saw the smoke from the Pentagon.
He's learned the firm lessons of fighting terrorism at first hand.
Howard bitch-slapped the Lefty woman reporter with the right response, but she was only echoing what the hard-line Muslim clerics in Londonistan are saying even today as well:
Change foreign policy - top Muslims
To repeat the world's favorite mayor (Rudy and not Ken Livingstone):
"We're right and they're wrong."

God bless John Howard and God bless Australia!
(It must be a wonderful country to produce men like Howard and Tim Blair!)

H/T to Powerline, Roger Simon and NRO's the Corner.