Wednesday, June 11, 2003

Howard: sickening humbug of a Prime Minister. Labor: incredibly weak
'Four months ago, on February 4, John Howard made a ministerial statement to Parliament lasting an hour. He began: "My purpose today is to explain why Iraq's defiance of the UN and its possession of chemical and biological weapons and its pursuit of a nuclear capability poses a real threat to the stability and security of our world ..." On March 12, Howard announced, in a national television address: "The Government has decided to commit forces to action to disarm Iraq. We are determined to join other countries to deprive Iraq of its chemical and biological weapons capable of causing death and destruction on a mammoth scale ..." On March 20, the day of the US-led invasion of Iraq, Howard told Parliament: "We have made a very strong commitment to disarming Iraq. We have done [so] because we believe it is in Australia's long-term national interest. We do worry about the ultimate and fateful coming together of weapons of mass destruction and international terrorism."

'On April 10, the day Baghdad fell, Howard told reporters: "I've said all along we wouldn't expect to get hard evidence of chemical and biological weapons until well after hostilities ceased. They've been obviously passed around and hidden." ... Labor dropped the issue. There has been no debate and only the occasional question... [Howard] referred to it only as "the war to liberate the people of Iraq, now in the minds of many rather a distant memory". And he added, almost as an afterthought: "Can I say I remain of the view there will be evidence, ultimately emerging, of the WMDs we referred to before the war started."'

Blair, Bush and Powell could only dream of a 'Memory Hole' working in their interests as efficiently as this. Labor, however, seems not to be aware that the neocon doctrine is alarming even conservatives and the establishment and so therefore there might be an opportunity to attack the government over this monumental lie?

No comments: