Happy Troops Going Home

There goes Australia.

Australian PM Kevin Rudd promised to pull the frontline troops out of Iraq, which is presumably a big reason he was elected. Hey, a politician who keeps a campaign promise. We haven't seen one of those here for decades.

A Note from Down Under

This is from an email I received recently from an Australian acquaintance regarding their ouster of John Howard:

John Howard govt is likened to US Republicans where as Kevin Rudd is likened to US Democrats .... i guess both parties serve the same master ... but the lesser evil of the two would have to be Kevin Rudd ....

... i did some time in Canberra in IT working amongst the government and my current job takes me there every now and then ... i get to privy some information that floats underground ...

if John Howard had won this election he was going to merge Aust.Federal Police (AFP) with Aust.Customs (ACS) with Aust Immigration (DIMIA) to form one organisation body called HomeLand Security (i wonder where he got this idea from) ....

ok USA it is your turn soon ... send a message to your govt... i.e. if you can get past those rigged voting machines (which luckily we do not have in Aust) ...

Dealing with the Dick, Dancing with the Devil

A report out of Australia says that The Big Dick made some kind of deal to get accused terrorist and Gitmo detainee David Hicks to plead guilty so as to keep him out of the news until after Australia’s elections, as part of another deal with Australia’s prime minister John Howard.

Hicks will be released from an Australian prison on Dec. 29 as part of a plea agreement reached in March. The first detainee convicted by a Guantanamo military tribunal, Hicks was given a seven year jail sentence but a judge suspended all but nine months of that. Hicks was held at Guantanamo for five years before going to trial.

An unnamed military official told Harpers, "One of our staffers was present when Vice President Cheney interfered directly to get Hicks' plea bargain. He did it, apparently as part of a deal cut with Howard."

"I kept thinking: this is the sort of thing that used to go on behind the Iron Curtain, not in America," the official continued. "And then it struck me how much this entire process had disintegrated into a political charade."

  Raw Story

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

It's Funny to Me

I wasn't impressed with the incident of the pranksters who got themselves arrested in Sydney by almost getting to Bush's door....until I watched this YouTube video.

One unamused official is on camera saying he doesn't see anything funny at all. I guess he wasn't standing in front of a mirror.

Rumble Down Under

The largest protest so far during US President George W. Bush's visit to Sydney ended peacefully Wednesday, but police predicted a "full-scale riot" later in the week.

About 300 students, many still in their high school uniforms, marched through central Sydney chanting anti-war slogans in protest at the US leader's presence in Australia for this week's Asia-Pacific summit.

[...]

But authorities successfully appealed in the courts for a curb on the main protest action planned for Saturday, which police estimate could attract up to 20,000 demonstrators.

Chief superintendent Steven Cullen, head of the state Public Order and Riot Squad, said he had never been so worried about a demonstration in his career, predicting "horrendous" implications for public safety.

"Police lines will come under attack and a full-scale riot is probable," Cullen told the Supreme Court.

  Raw Story

Well, that's an interesting stance to take.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Welcome to Sydney, Mr. Bush

Part 2. Snubbed by the official greeter.

The Big Secret

Are Australian troops to be withdrawn from Iraq?

....hey, do what you want....you will anyway.

Ooops

DARWIN, Australia (AP) - A U.S. Marine Corps fighter jet dropped a bomb and damaged a building in an accident at a remote military range in northern Australia, the government said Friday.

The bomb, dropped by an F/A-18 Hornet, exploded near a control tower and damaged facilities at the Delamere Air Weapons Range in the Northern Territory on Wednesday, Australia's Defense Department said. No one was injured and no details were released on the extent of the damage.

  Guardian article

Coalition of the no longer willing

Australia will not send more troops to Iraq to replace departing British forces, Defense Minister Robert Hill said Thursday.

   article

Just in case you were getting any ideas.