When Friends Butt In
11 February 2007 10:49 am by Taylor Marsh
When Friends Butt In
"I think that will just encourage those who want to completely destabilize
and destroy Iraq, and create chaos and a victory for the terrorists to hang
on and hope for an Obama victory," Howard said on Nine Network television."If I were running al-Qaida in Iraq, I would put a circle around
March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory, not only
for Obama but also for the Democrats." – Australia\’s PM, John
HowardAustralian
leader: Al-Qaida wants Obama (emphasis added)
Australia has been an ally in Iraq, but this is beyond the pale. Let me also
state that being an ally, we appreciate the troops Howard has sent and every
one of them is in no less danger because the contingent is small, so I don\’t
discount their sacrifice. However, the number of troops from Australia is more
symbolic than anything else and certainly doesn\’t give the PM any special platform
on which to judge Mr. Obama. You\’ve also got to wonder if he got his talking
points from the White House or Mitch McConnell.
Obama fired back.
"The United States has sacrificed more than 3,000 brave young men and
women and $400 billion, only to find ourselves mired in the middle of a sectarian
civil war," he said. "Even Republicans … know that more of the
same is only going to attract more terrorists to Iraq and make our country
less safe."Gibbs went on to say that Howard wasn\’t in a position to be overly critical.
"If Prime Minister Howard truly believes what he says, perhaps his country
should find its way to contribute more than just 1,400 troops so some American
troops can come home," he said. "It\’s easy to talk tough when it\’s
not your country or your troops making the sacrifices."
