HOWARD STAYS HOME: The U.S. hurt the domestic standing of Australian
Prime Minister John Howard by not inviting him to the Azores summit--
even though Australia, unlike summit participant Spain, is a full
military partner in the coalition. This time the administration
remembered to invite Howard (to the summit with Blair later this week),
which is good. But Howard's remaining in
Oz, the significance of which I cannot evaluate.
via Tim Blair, check out the contortions of a
former leader of the Aussie opposition who's trying to praise
Blair's heroics while trashing Howard for getting involved in the
war.
One more Australian item that doesn't seem to have made it into American
papers: a day before the airstrikes on Baghdad started last week, two
protesters climbed the "sails" of the Sydney Opera House and
vandalized it, writing "No War" in 16-foot high red letters.
The Opera House has been cleaned, and the protester who is British is
getting his visa cancelled. Many folks, including John Howard, publicly
worried that this showed a laxness in security that could be exploited by
terrorist attackers.
Reminds me of a joke.
Who is the greatest Muslim Fighter at Sergeant level in the war so
far?
Asan Akbar.
Out of...
Q: Who was the greatest German General of WW II?
A: Eisenhower.
