Julian2 Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 From correspondents in Iowa February 12, 2007 06:30am Article from: Agence France-Presse US presidential hopeful Barack Obama today challenged John Howard to commit another 20,000 Australian troops to Iraq after the Prime Minister attacked the senator's plan to bring American troops home. The US senator accused Mr Howard of "empty rhetoric" in his criticism of his stand. The 45-year-old waded into a major foreign policy row just one day after formally announcing his candidacy, telling Mr Howard he should dispatch 20,000 Australians to Iraq if he wanted to back up his comments. "I think it's flattering that one of George Bush's allies on the other side of the world started attacking me the day after I announced," Senator Obama said in Iowa. "I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops in Iraq, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1400, so if he is ... to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq. "Otherwise it's just a bunch of empty rhetoric." Mr Howard earlier attacked Senator Obama's plan to withdraw US combat troops from Iraq by March 31, 2008. He said Senator Obama's pledges on Iraq were good news only for insurgents operating in the war-ravaged country. "I think he's wrong. I think that will just encourage those who want to completely destabilise and destroy Iraq, and create chaos and a victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for an Obama victory," Mr Howard said on Channel 9. "If I were running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying as many times as possible for a victory not only for Obama but also for the Democrats." A number of Democrats have reacted angrily to the criticism, branding the comments bizarre. Mr Howard is under pressure over Australia's involvement in the war, with opinion polls consistently showing the conflict is unpopular with Australian voters. The latest ACNielsen poll in Fairfax newspapers today has the Labor party 16 percentage points in front of the governing coalition on a two-party preferred vote while Opposition Leader Kevin Rudd also leads Mr Howard in the preferred prime minister stakes. Labor has pledged to bring Australian troops home, through negotiation with the US, if it wins office later this year. Footage of Mr Howard's comments in the Nine interview has been repeatedly played on US TV. Cable news channel CNN included with its report the headline: Australian PM slams Obama on his war stance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Bad move Howard. Wonder who put him up to it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted February 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Now this is extremely unfair. Everyone knows that Honest John 1) Is totally unused to effective criticism. 2) Is totally unused to having afore mentioned criticism reported accurately in the press. You guys in opposition watching this???!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Julian2 Posted February 12, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Bad move Howard. Wonder who put him up to it? Don't worry chuck he's more than capable of spouting his own rhetoric and he's well aware of what side his bread is caviared on. Just turned on 7am Australia Network news, not a mention of it in the headlines, surprise surprise. They know what side of the bread the dripping's on as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chuckwoww Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Well it seems he's sticking to his story. Interesting. http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,21210565-29277,00.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bust Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Maybe Bush did. They do refer to him as Bonsai. Hopefully neither Bush or Howard will be around much longer. "I think he's wrong. I think that will just encourage those who want to completely destabilise and destroy Iraq," Mr Howard said on Channel 9. But isn't that wash Bush did already? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Hippie Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Obama does have a valid point though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 The average Aussie, I think, dont know for sure, but if you said "Bin Laden" they would jump a mile high, smart answer from the USA bloke, with my dislexic eyes I sometimes think it is Oma Bin Laden being spoken about Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torneyboy Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Storm in a tea cup... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flashermac Posted February 12, 2007 Report Share Posted February 12, 2007 Just out of curiousity, what's the military record of Obama and Howard? Why should people who have never been to war be allowed to send others into situations where they can be maimed or die? p.s. Same same to you, Georgie Bush and Dick Cheyney. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.