Australian Prime Minister slams Obama

[Gabu]

OMGLOL HOW MANEY ELECTORAL VOETS DOES AUSTRALIEA HAVE!?!?/11/1/

[Rob]

I will say... for the size of our military that's a lot.

Yes, that's a silly objection. Australia is one of the few countries actually helping the US with troops over there, so you guys have earned the right to say anything you want about our war policy.

And Bush meddled in Australian politics? Not surprising at all, and it's just another reason to want him gone forever.

[Michael Z]

I quite liked Obama's response to this:

"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.

"I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops on the ground now, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is (ready) to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq."

[skybridge]

I quite liked Obama's response to this:

"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.

"I would also note that we have close to 140,000 troops on the ground now, and my understanding is Mr Howard has deployed 1,400, so if he is (ready) to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and sends them to Iraq."

Brilliant

[Silent Hunter]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_Defence_Force

Australia has about 70,000 soldiers.

Howard's entitled to his opinion. Probably shouldn't have aired it though.

[P.J. McDuff]

Well if Howard hates Obama then my opinion of Obama has gone up quite a bit..

Word.

[DownWithTheLeft]

I'm sure so many Americans actually care what Howard says.

Right, except most liberals care what France, the UN, Germany, etc. say about the war when it fits their needs

[P.J. McDuff]

Has someone been reading Anne Coulter?

[Deano963]

Has someone been reading Anne Coulter?

Reading? LOL. Duff, you give him too much credit. He probably saw her on the O'Liely Factor last night.

[DownWithTheLeft]

Has someone been reading Anne Coulter?

Reading? LOL. Duff, you give him too much credit. He probably saw her on the O'Liely Factor last night.

She was on?  Damn how'd I miss that

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

While I think this is all a tempest in a teacup that won't affect the election much, I do think Obama did come out the better of this.  It definitely established him a credible enough contender that a foreign leader took a potshot at him, and he came up with a good response, tho the 20,000 figure was a bit over specific.  A simple, "If he thinks Iraq needs more troops, why doesn't he send more Australian troops?" would have sufficed.

[The Dowager Mod]

Douchebag.

[minionofmidas]

Obama is culturally sort of an Indonesian. Howard is an Australian Rightwinger. Nuff said.

[ag]

Obama is culturally sort of an Indonesian. Howard is an Australian Rightwinger. Nuff said.

Actually, best comment so far. This should be on the international forum, not here. It's actually quite interesting - within the context of Australian politics. It's irrelevant, as far as US politics is concerned.

Remember, Australia is a country that had a long history of institutionalized racism, and had it for a reason. This sort of a comment is very astute: even most "urbane" Australians would take it for an odd-ball foreign policy shot of little significance. But the target audience of "mates and blokes" would get it right. Howard has been a virtuoso using racist inuendo throughout his long career in politics, while remaining within confines of respectability. This is just another occasion to marvel the artistry of the old SOB.

[RRB]

Purhaps our friend from Australia can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the Liberal party of Australia (that's right, "liberal" in Australia means liberal economics, let corporation and business do whatever they please)of which Howard in PM used to subscribe to the "White Australia" policies of the past (and present).

Also, a good example of right wing media bias in the US is that Obama's response that Australia should send 21,000 troops was not mentioned on CBS news.  We heard all about Howard's remarks, but that was it.  Nothing about Obama's response.  How convenient for the right wing owners of CBS to have such a thing "left off"  the report.

[Keystone Phil]

PM Howard is such a supporter of the Iraq War that he has sent a whopping 1,400 Australian troops to help the US! What a hero! What a hypocrite!

I love how people don't give a damn about the lives put in danger, helping us in a war when it isn't a large amount. I'm glad to see that you don't care about their sacrifice, hack.

[agcatter]

What's the big deal?  Kerry's sister went thru Australia slamming Howard's policies and talking up the Liberals during the last Australian elections in 04.  I'd say if European politicians can badmouth American voters for electing Republicans, Howard can do the same toward American libs.  What the hell is the difference?  There isn't any.

[Verily]

PM Howard is such a supporter of the Iraq War that he has sent a whopping 1,400 Australian troops to help the US! What a hero! What a hypocrite!

I love how people don't give a damn about the lives put in danger, helping us in a war when it isn't a large amount. I'm glad to see that you don't care about their sacrifice, hack.

Well, Howard has two choices. He can either convince his country that Australia should be contributing as much as the US is, or he can stop complaining that the US, which is losing much more than Australia by being involved, wants out. Any other statement is the ultimate hypocrisy.

The attack is on Howard, not on whatever poor souls he's shipped off to Iraq. Nice straw man, though.

[Deano963]

PM Howard is such a supporter of the Iraq War that he has sent a whopping 1,400 Australian troops to help the US! What a hero! What a hypocrite!

I love how people don't give a damn about the lives put in danger, helping us in a war when it isn't a large amount. I'm glad to see that you don't care about their sacrifice, hack.

I must have missed the part where Scoonie belittled and mocked the Australian soldiers themselves and not PM Howard.

[Deano963]

From MyDD:

Labor opposition leader Kevin Rudd is ahead even before Howard's latest idiocy:

In the latest ACNielsen poll published Monday in Fairfax newspapers, 48 percent of respondents named Rudd as their preferred prime minister, compared with 43 percent for Howard. Five percent were undecided. The national telephone survey of 1,412 voters was conducted Feb. 8-10 before Howard's comments on Obama and had a margin of error of 2.6 percentage points.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory?id=2868323&page=1

No worries, Howard .

[Keystone Phil]

PM Howard is such a supporter of the Iraq War that he has sent a whopping 1,400 Australian troops to help the US! What a hero! What a hypocrite!

I love how people don't give a damn about the lives put in danger, helping us in a war when it isn't a large amount. I'm glad to see that you don't care about their sacrifice, hack.

I must have missed the part where Scoonie belittled and mocked the Australian soldiers themselves and not PM Howard.

Then you need a lesson in reading between the lines. Note how many people mock the fact that low amounts of troops are sent from certain countries, as if them being there means nothing.

PM Howard is such a supporter of the Iraq War that he has sent a whopping 1,400 Australian troops to help the US! What a hero! What a hypocrite!

I love how people don't give a damn about the lives put in danger, helping us in a war when it isn't a large amount. I'm glad to see that you don't care about their sacrifice, hack.

Well, Howard has two choices. He can either convince his country that Australia should be contributing as much as the US is, or he can stop complaining that the US, which is losing much more than Australia by being involved, wants out. Any other statement is the ultimate hypocrisy.

The attack is on Howard, not on whatever poor souls he's shipped off to Iraq. Nice straw man, though.

Uh, no, this isn't "staw man." This argument is about how a great number of people laugh at the fact that some countries didn't send massive amounts of troops, equating their sacrifice of troops to a field trip to the region.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

Purhaps our friend from Australia can correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe that the Liberal party of Australia (that's right, "liberal" in Australia means liberal economics, let corporation and business do whatever they please)of which Howard in PM used to subscribe to the "White Australia" policies of the past (and present).
 

The reason the Liberal (the capital L is extremely important) Party was created in 1944 was to allow more economic freedoms, basically meant to be a counter of the union created Labor party. There really wasn't a massive social divide, the Labor Party was old-school Catholic and the Liberals were usually anglican or presbyterian.

As time moved on however, the free-market Liberal Party also tended to attract social conservatives as the Labor Party in the late 60s and into the 70s moved socially left.

Then in the 1980s the Labor Party fell under the spell of Thatcherite economics.

John Howard USED to be a socially "small c" conservative and economic liberal. However he has become a social Conservative and economic reactionary.

Having said that there are many Liberals who are called wet libs, or are true liberals, they like economic and social freedom, but most rarely get heard or supress their real views to keep in step the mainstream of the party. John Howard did attempt in the 1987 election to develop a policy which would restrict Asian immigration (and people didn't go for it). I don't think the majority of Australians are racist, I think there is a sick undercurrent of it, largely from a certain degree of cultural isolation which comes from our geographic position.

FYI - This is a big story here, and the overwhelming current of policy opinion is firmly against Howard. Most feel he has the right to comment on a policy which does affect our troops (I didn't appreciate the mocking tone of one poster). I heard someone on the radio say "Why is Howard starting to get this moral absolutist tone like Bush... remember Johnnie, we don't like Bush".

[Deano963]

PM Howard is such a supporter of the Iraq War that he has sent a whopping 1,400 Australian troops to help the US! What a hero! What a hypocrite!

I love how people don't give a damn about the lives put in danger, helping us in a war when it isn't a large amount. I'm glad to see that you don't care about their sacrifice, hack.

I must have missed the part where Scoonie belittled and mocked the Australian soldiers themselves and not PM Howard.

Then you need a lesson in reading between the lines.

No....you need a lesson in how to just plain read if you think Scoonie was attacking the Australian troops themselves.

[Keystone Phil]

PM Howard is such a supporter of the Iraq War that he has sent a whopping 1,400 Australian troops to help the US! What a hero! What a hypocrite!

I love how people don't give a damn about the lives put in danger, helping us in a war when it isn't a large amount. I'm glad to see that you don't care about their sacrifice, hack.

I must have missed the part where Scoonie belittled and mocked the Australian soldiers themselves and not PM Howard.

Then you need a lesson in reading between the lines.

No....you need a lesson in how to just plain read if you think Scoonie was attacking the Australian troops themselves.

It is clear that people that make that argument make a joke out the amount of troops sent, basically laughing off the idea that smaller sizes of service men and women don't make much of a difference. Think about that next time you laugh at El Salvador or whatever country sending a few hundred of their nation's finest. They didn't need to send a single body to help us fight. They didn't have to risk a single life yet we insist on mocking them.

John Howard or any other world leader deserves our thanks whether they send 1,500 or 15,000 or even 15 soldiers.

[Fmr President & Senator Polnut]

My personal issue isn't that Howard commented at all about Iraq, since we do have troops there. It was the blindly partisan attack on Obama and the Democrats as the "Terrorist's Preferred Party".

Howard and Bush whilst talking about Iraq sound like coaches of a team that 20 points down 5 minutes before the final whistle and is talking about what to do during extra time.