Cheney flies to Oz to prop up the “other” lapdog
When Vice President Dick Cheney arrives [in
Australia] on Thursday he will find his country’s relations with Australia
being subjected to unusually close scrutiny.
The timing of what should have been a little- noticed visit to a close ally could hardly have been worse. When Vice President Dick Cheney arrives [in Australia] on Thursday he will find his country’s relations with Australia being subjected to unusually close scrutiny.
Cheney arrives at a time when Prime Minister John Howard, who has been an even more faithful follower of U.S. policy on Iraq than Tony Blair, is lagging in opinion polls far behind the opposition Labor party’s new leader, Kevin Rudd. More ominously for Howard, even the bookmakers’ odds are now on Rudd, who favors a gradual troop withdrawal from Iraq.
Several issues have come together to raise local consciousness of the downside of following Washington too closely. The normally circumspect Howard attacked a potential Democratic contender for the American presidency, Barack Obama, suggesting that his call for a troop withdrawal from Iraq by 2008 would be cheered by Al Qaeda. Obama responded by suggesting that if Howard were so eager to fight, Australia should send another 20,000 troops.
That response hit a raw nerve. For all Howard’s tough talk about the importance of Iraq in the global fight against terrorism, Australian troops have suffered not a single death from enemy action. The contingent of 1,400 troops in the region is mostly kept well away from trouble spots.
Howard was about as “brave” as Cheney when it came to risking his chickenhawk butt — either for or against — when running his mouth back in VietNam days. The funniest bit, though, is flying in a White House hack to prop up his campaign in a nation like Australia which prides itself on independence.
Posted: Wed - February 21, 2007 at 08:05 AM