Howard: Stranded Like A Shag On A Rock

Australian PM John Howard yesterday:

"There is no fundamental change in American policy. I know that for a fact."

Er, Johnny? The Dems are calling for a pullout by the end of 2007. And Rummy has been defenestrated. What bit don't you understand?

And here's Howard on the 7.30 Report last night:

KERRY O’BRIEN: But the bottom line is that in the end you took a decision on poor information; no matter how many people believed in it or not, you took a decision on poor information. Iraq, by almost anybody's calculation, is now a mess. That makes it a mess of your making?

JOHN HOWARD: But, Kerry, the judgment I've got to make now is, is it in the interests of the coalition – the West, America, Britain, Australia and other countries - to withdraw in circumstances of defeat and retreat, and the answer to that is emphatically no.

KERRY O’BRIEN: You've made that point a number of times, but my question is, this is a real dilemma for you, for George Bush and Tony Blair, a real dilemma, knowing when to get out of Iraq, Iraq now being in a mess. Is that not a dilemma of your own making?

JOHN HOWARD: Kerry, I'm not going to engage in political commentary, I'm going to tell you what my policy is and my policy is to be part of a coalition that does not leave Iraq in circumstances where it is seen as a defeat for the West and a boost for the terrorists. That is the most important responsibility I have at the present time. The Australian people will make judgments about any claimed dilemmas I have; the Australian people will pass a judgment. I would expect the Australian people to think very carefully about a Prime Minister or a government that took part in an action that fatally or very badly damaged the prestige of the United States around the world.

Well, if that's not political commentary, I don't know what is! And if the Iraq War has not "fatally or very badly damaged the prestige of the United States around the world", I don't know what has.

It's time for Australians to tell John Howard that we want an independent Australian foreign policy plan in Iraq, including a clearly defined exit strategy.

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