Arse-Licker To Join Aznar In Abject Abasement
Harold Hark
16 March 2004

The Ides of March may have come and gone, but Feckless Johnny is looking more and more like a stumbling, mumbling cadaver.

Howard's pathetic repudiation of Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty for suggesting that Australia is a prime terrorist target because of our obsequious subordination to George W. Bush's illegal invasion of Iraq has shown him to be as unaware of reality as Romania's Nicolai Ceaucescu in his last days.

Especially since NSW Police Commissioner Ken Moroney, Terrorism expert Rohan Gunaratna, and ANU's expert on intelligence and counter-terrorism, Clive Williams all agree with Keelty.

But hey, what would they know?

Defying logic and common sense, Howard has said of Keelty's conclusion that Spain had been targeted because of its role in the war on Iraq, that it was "not a conclusion I would have reached."

Bring on the men with the white coats.

Worse, he had his chief of staff, a certain Arthur Sinodinis, call Keelty moments after his on air comments and give him hell. (Steve Lewis: PM's office rebukes police chief.) It's still hard to imagine, but this happens all the time when any public figure contradicts the Prime Mistake. He publicly expresses full confidence in the upstart while his gunsels rip the unfortunate a new arsehole.

Mark Latham, in his newfound avuncular and folksy way, has spoken for democracy, by suggesting that "If the head of our Australian Federal Police has got something to say about the safety and security of the country, we should listen...and to have intervention calls haranguing him from the prime minister's office is totally inappropriate."

Interviewed on Kerry O'Brien's 7:30 Report last night,Howard based his inability to comprehend the obvious by referring over and over again to a speech made by ASIO Commissar Dennis Richardson over a year ago.

Howard was at pains to spin Richardson's words to his own advantage, often sounding as if he were hanging on to Richardson's coat tail for protection.

KERRY O'BRIEN: John Howard, you've said today, quite unequivocally, that there is no link between the Madrid bombings and Australia.

How can you say that, knowing that, like Australia, Spain is a close ally of the United States in Iraq and that Al Qaeda is a strong suspect in the attack?

JOHN HOWARD: Well, for a couple of reasons, Kerry.

The first and the most obvious one is that because an attack occurs in another country, unless there is evidence of some direct implication for Australia, which there isn't, then I can make that statement.

The second reason why I make the statement is that it's my view that Iraq is really irrelevant to the intent and the purposes of Al Qaeda.

It may be something that is used for propaganda and recruitment purposes, and this is not only my view but it's also the view of the Director General of ASIO Dennis Richardson.

He gave voice to this view in a major speech he gave last year.I think people have got to remember that Australia was identified as a potential Al Qaeda target before 11 September, and that the first time Al Qaeda mentioned Australia in a negative way was in relation to our involvement in East Timor.

Howard continued to spin even when O'Brien actually pulled a few quotes from Richardson's speech:

KERRY O'BRIEN: You mention your ASIO chief, Dennis Richardson.

In that same speech, Dennis Richardson said, with regard to Osama bin Laden's comments about East Timor, "We ought to be extremely cynical of bin Laden's references to East Timor and his public statements in Australia."

And he said there was no record of any such reference before November 3, 2001.

He also said, "The fact that we are in close alliance with the US and the fact that we were early and actively engaged in the war on terrorism, does contribute to us being a target."

And the Prime Minister's response:

JOHN HOWARD: Yes, but the war on terrorism is something that my critics have been at pains to say is separate from Iraq.

Now, surely nobody is suggesting that we should not have been involved in the war against terrorism.

Surely they're not suggesting that we should not have joined the Americans and others in Afghanistan, and our intervention alongside the Americans in Afghanistan drew bipartisan support in Australia.

It was strongly supported at the time by the Labor Party Opposition.

You see, Kerry, my view is this - that Al Qaeda killed innocent people before Iraq and Al Qaeda will kill innocent people after Iraq, and has killed innocent people after Iraq, and if you go through the countries where there have been terrorist attacks over the last year, you will find they include countries that agreed with us on Iraq, but also countries that very strongly disagreed with us on Iraq.

The point being that, as Dennis Richardson said in that speech of last year, that for the long-term intent and purposes of Al Qaeda, Iraq is irrelevant.

KERRY O'BRIEN: Your Government's top police officer, Commissioner Keelty, says, and I'll quote again, "If this turns out to be Islamic extremists responsible for this bombing in Spain, it's more likely to be linked to the position that Spain and other allies took on issues such as Iraq."

So, he sees the link but you don't?

JOHN HOWARD: Well, I don't see that link and I wouldn't have reached that conclusion for the reasons I've just explained.

That's right, Kerry, No-link Johnny remains unconcerned.

It will be interesting to hear what Dennis Richardson has to say now, if indeed he is allowed to express his opinion, or even wants to. He would like utter control over the privacy of citizens and the Madrid bombing may just see more legislation introduced to that effect. (Lest we forget who the real enemy is, see Jeff Sparrow: The real fight is for civil rights )

Not surprisingly, Bush sycophant Howard was parroted in his "views" by his own sycophants, Little Lord Downer and Heil Ruddock, the latter's interest in Stasi-like control being well known.

The warmongers are gathering their stunned forces after the Spanish election results. They are crying "appeasement" against all those who see the election as a rebuff for joining the war in Iraq. Unfortunately, the superficial likes of General Sheridan of The Australian are unable to see the difference between a "just war" and just any old war. They still think the Iraqi adventure was about terrorism.

Al Qaeda is now the Coalition of the Willing's Frankenstein monster. From them we are seeing the same avoidance of the root causes for such an organisation to exist and flourish as we saw in the aftermath of 11 September 2001.

It beggars belief that America, in cooperation with governments around the world, didn't take a deep breath then and convene a summit on why it happened. Instead they struck out blindly, like dousing an ant hill under the house with a flame thrower, only to burn down the house along with the anthill.

Because of this almost Biblical response, the world itself is now in danger of burning.

Members of the Coalition must know they have taken the entirely wrong steps in the war on terrorism. In fact, they have taken no steps to eradicate terrorism. They used 9/11 to help the Americans build an empire in the hopes of making some filthy lucre on the corpses of Iraqis.

It is clearly too late for them to back down now. They know it and we know it. The only possible prevention to the escalation of worldwide terror is to act as the Spaniards did, and oust the perpetrators. But by the time that happens--the end of this year--more atrocities will have taken place.

Once the henchmen comprising the Coalition are consigned to their ignoble place in history, the world can begin to eliminate the causes of terrorism, sanely, justly, and with a compassionate agenda. Until then, insanity will prevail. Because let there be no doubt about it, George W. Bush, John Howard and Tony Blair are insane.