Skip to main content

Defence Minister speaks drivel

Tony Jones interviewed Defence Minister Brendon Nelson on ABC TV's Lateline last night. To listen to Nelson defend his PM in relation to the "attack" Howard has made on the Democratic Party presidential hopeful, Barack Obana, was pathetic - and pure drivel.

Read the transcript here. But look out for this telling question and Nelson's evasion in answering the valid point made by Jones:

TONY JONES: Well, as I understand it, the Obama plan is actually based on the phased withdrawal idea that was actually put forward by the Iraq Study Group, which, of course, was led by the former Republican Secretary of State, James A. Baker. His interests and those of terrorists aren't coincident, are they?

BRENDAN NELSON: There are two things. Firstly, the Baker-Hamilton Study Group, amongst other things, emphasised that if America leaves Iraq prematurely it would be catastrophic for the Iraqis, the region and indeed the global struggle against terrorism. As I also understand it, Senator Obama's so called plan does not give credence to the conditions under which withdrawal occurs, that instead it sets, if you like, artificial deadlines and timelines.

TONY JONES: But aren’t those deadlines and timelines exactly the same as the key recommendations of the Iraq Study Group's, which we'll just remind ourselves, was a phased withdrawal of 15 US combat brigades, about 70,000 US troops, starting this year and ending in the first quarter of 2008?

BRENDAN NELSON: You need to remember a couple of things Tony. Firstly, that the recommendations of the Baker Hamilton Study Group have been quite studiously-considered by the US administration, by the US military and a variety of others, and an outcome has been delivered. It's also important to recognise, and any of us watching news bulletins or reading newspapers on any day of the week know only too well that over the last month or six weeks the insurgents and the terrorists have inspired this sectarian violence, going back to the bombing of the Askariya shrine early last year in Samarra, those people have escalated their activities to do everything they can to frustrate what is about to happen. What is important

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reading the Chilcot Inquiry Report more closely

Most commentary on the Chilcot Inquiry Report of and associated with the Iraq War, has been "lifted" from the Executive Summary.   The Intercept has actually gone and dug into the Report, with these revelations : "THE CHILCOT REPORT, the U.K.’s official inquiry into its participation in the Iraq War, has finally been released after seven years of investigation. Its executive summary certainly makes former Prime Minister Tony Blair, who led the British push for war, look terrible. According to the report, Blair made statements about Iraq’s nonexistent chemical, biological, and nuclear programs based on “what Mr. Blair believed” rather than the intelligence he had been given. The U.K. went to war despite the fact that “diplomatic options had not been exhausted.” Blair was warned by British intelligence that terrorism would “increase in the event of war, reflecting intensified anti-US/anti-Western sentiment in the Muslim world, including among Muslim communities in the
Post a Comment
Read more

An unpalatable truth!

Quinoa has for the last years been the "new" food on the block for foodies. Known for its health properties, foodies the world over have taken to it. Many restaurants have added it to their menu. But, as this piece " Can vegans stomach the unpalatable truth about quinoa? " from The Guardian so clearly details, the cost to Bolivians and Peruvians - from where quinoa hails - has been substantial. "Not long ago, quinoa was just an obscure Peruvian grain you could only buy in wholefood shops. We struggled to pronounce it (it's keen-wa, not qui-no-a), yet it was feted by food lovers as a novel addition to the familiar ranks of couscous and rice. Dieticians clucked over quinoa approvingly because it ticked the low-fat box and fitted in with government healthy eating advice to "base your meals on starchy foods". Adventurous eaters liked its slightly bitter taste and the little white curls that formed around the grains. Vegans embraced quinoa as
Post a Comment
Read more

Climate change: Well-organised hoax?

There are still some - all too sadly people with a voice who are listened to - who assert that climate change is a hoax. Try telling that to the people of Colorado who recently experienced horrendous bushfires, or the people of Croatia suffering with endless days of temps of 40 degrees (and not much less than 30 at night time) some 8-10 degrees above the norm. Bill McKibben, take up the issue of whether climate change is a hoax, on The Daily Beast : Please don’t sweat the 2,132 new high temperature marks in June—remember, climate change is a hoax. The first to figure this out was Oklahoma Senator James Inhofe, who in fact called it “the greatest hoax ever perpetrated on the American people,” apparently topping even the staged moon landing. But others have been catching on. Speaker of the House John Boehner pointed out that the idea that carbon dioxide is “harmful to the environment is almost comical.” The always cautious Mitt Romney scoffed at any damage too: “Scientists will fig
Post a Comment
Read more