Australian PM angered over UN appeal for civilian protection

ABC ^ | 27/03/2003 | R.A.N

[smpc]

Australia's Prime Minister John Howard has admonished the United Nations Secretary General, Kofi Annan, for urging all sides in the Iraq war to protect civilians.

Our reporter Stephanie Kennedy says Mr Annan comments came after a missile strike killed 15 Iraqis in a Baghdad suburb.

He said all sides in the conflict should respect international humanitarian law and take all necessary steps to protect civilians.

Mr Howard has responded to the comments by asking Mr Annan to examine the relative behaviour of US, British and Australian troops.

"Any suggestion of moral equivalence between the coalition and the Iraqis on this occasion, I totally reject," he said.

[theDentist]

Thank You Mr. Prime Minister!!!

[KingPin]

PM Howard BUMP!

[trebb]

Yay for the Aussies.

[Peach]

From another Freeper:

using civilians as human shields

military units dressed in civilian clothes

fake surrender ambushes

arming with chemical weapons

systematic rape and torture

execution and (possible) castration of POW's

forcing soldiers to fight under threat of death to their families

placing military targets in hospitals

using ambulances for military transport

suicide bombings

attacking their own population

gassing their own population

cutting off water to their own cities

vs.: possibly bombing a market by accident

Guess which draws more protest from the media, the UN and Amnesty International?

[smpc]

Its a very misleading headline...its implying that the PM is mad that we're not supposed to kill civilians rather than being mad at accusations of moral equivalance with the regime.

[EternalVigilance]

The fact that the Iraqis couldn't give a rip about civilians, and that we do, is so obvious that to any decent human being, it should go without saying.

One more bit of evidence of the craven and irredeemable nature of the 'UN', and its 'leaders'.

[UCFRoadWarrior]

Kudos to PM Howard for standing up to Mr Hitler...er Mr Annan.

Aussie, UK, and US forces are doing everything possible to limit Iraqi civilian deaths. Too bad Saddam and his minions are not doing the same for Iraqi civilians

Aussie troops over the years have been noble fighters and have taken their share of casualties in wars...esp in the Pacific Theater in WW II.

If any of you are in the Wash DC area.....there used to be a store in the National Mall (near JW Marriott, I think) where they sold Aussie goods. It would be a nice time to buy some Aussie goods

Man, after reading this, I wanna eat a Vegemite sandwich. Kudos to Aussies and PM Howard

[Gritty]

Liberals. They don't strive to identify the guilty. They strive to portray moral equivalence!

It's a self-protective thingy.

[machman]

Hey, we should lay off Goofy Annan, he knows what he's doing. Remember what a fine job the UN did in proecting civilians in Rwanda under his leadership?

[smpc]

Nothing funnier than watching an Americans face after their first bite of a vegemite sandwich:P

[pgyanke]

This seems like an appropriate thread to share some thoughts that have been rattling around my brain cage...

On Human Shields

War is an ugly thing
But not the ugliest of things
Priorities collide
Diplomacy is tried
But truth is found on the battlefield

The defenders hide their faces
The innocent propped in their places
Battle ensues
Death on the news
But truth is found on the battlefield

Shielding their forces and lives
Civilians are chosen to die
Invaders restrained
Minimizing the slain
And truth is found on the battlefield

Our weapons of war are smart
Warfare of finesse and art
Shields are spared
Enemy is scared
And truth is found on the battlefield

Civilians are a shield and deterrant
Because some weapons are errant
While we spare lives
They spin lies
But truth is found on the battlefield

While we endeavor to limit the dead
They spill blood so hatred will spread
The bombs do fall
But not on all
And truth is found on the battlefield

With all that they attempt
They are beneath our contempt
The world will see
Iraq will be free
And truth will come from the battlefield

[xp38]

As an Aussie who likes Vegemite you need to understand something about it. The english equivalent is called Marmite btw. It's very salty and the way to eat it is to butter some toast and take a small amount on a knife and lightly dab it on. Very small amounts so it doesn't overwhelm you. At best its sort of like a flavouring enhancement nothing more. You can use it on crackers as well. Regardless its an aquired taste and most get it while growing up. The website for the stuff http://www.vegemite.com.au/index.asp?area=1

[beaversmom]

My mom is from England. She told me she craved Marmite when she was pregnant with me but she couldn't find it over here at the time. She puts it on toast like you described.

[beaversmom]

I don't know much about Howard but I'm liking what I've heard so far.

[xp38]

Some claim there is a difference between the two but if so it is very slight at least from my taste buds. What this Marmite website http://www.gty.org/~phil/marmite.htm says is it's a bit stronger than Vegemite. Marmite is on the shelves of supermarkets here in Toronto. To find Vegemite you have to go to some specialty stores so I often just use Marmite.

[The Wizard]

You tell 'em Mr. Howard

[xp38]

Of the two main political parties in Australia Howard is the leader of the conservative one even though the name of his party is Liberal. Don't let that name fool you. It may be confusing but this is from an essay on the web to enlighten you.

As a feature of modern democracy, the Australian system of government includes many political parties representing various groups of people of different ideologies and to protect the interests of these particular groups. Each party accommodates its own structures to a different conception of democracy, and maintains a different view of what a democratic society should be.

Having inherited our system of government from the British Westminster system, Australia also furthers the Westminster tradition of the ‘two party system’. This of course does not imply that there are necessarily only two parties. It simply derives its meaning from the two main points of view presented in the debate among parties. In Australia, there are three major parties; the ‘two parties’ consisting of the Labor Party and a coalition of the Liberal and National Party.

The Labor party is Australia’s oldest political party. Founded in the 1880s, the Labor Party was formed in the midst of depression & high unemployment. Traditionally the Labor Party has taken a role in voicing the needs of the common workers, & has taken the side in upholding social justice. The main goals of the Labor party are to eliminate poverty, create full employment and establish equal rights & opportunities. (Chapman, 1994: page 192) Currently, the Labor Party have not held office since 1996, & under leader Kim Beazley hold a considerable part of the House of Representatives. This is out of date as Beazley is no longer the leader

The conservative Coalition consists of a long–time partnership between the Liberal and National party. This partnership has often been described as symbiotic. In this relationship, the leader of the Liberal party takes leadership of the coalition, & the leader of the National Party takes the role of deputy. Currently the coalition is lead by John Howard with his sidekick John Anderson.

The National Party, formerly the Country Party founded in 1920, was established to better represent the interests of the industries & residents of rural Australia. The National Party represents a unique aspect of Australia, from which we not only see our heritage as a nation as a whole, but also in that rural Australia represents a large & important part in Australia’s economy. It shows the considerable influence rural Australia exerts on the government. The principles of the National Party have always been to encourage export industries & private enterprise, taking care of the family, maintain Australia’s security & remain loyal to Britain & her empire. (Chapman, 1994: page 192)

The original Liberal Party, known as Fusion, emerged in 1909 as an alliance of various groups opposed to the Australian Labor Party. The modern Liberal Party, founded in 1944 at a conference held by Robert Menzies, is by far the youngest of the three major political parties. The principles of the Liberal Party have been to encourage private enterprise, competition & efficiency in industry, reduce taxation & government spending, & to raise the living standards of Australians. (Outlined in Appendix 1: The Original Liberal Party Principles)

Without doubt, the Liberal party has been one of the most important of all formative political influences on contemporary Australia. This is not to deny the dynamic force of Labor on the political system, nor does it ignore the importance the National Party exerts on the economy. Since its creation, the Liberal party have held government for a considerable majority of the period, reflecting the powerful effect it has had in consolidating the form of post-war Australia.

[Kay Soze]

Had Kofi Anan, Chirac, Putin, Schroder, and the Chinese not violted the 17 UN resoultions then none of this would be happening today.

It was in their financial interests to put these people in harms way.

Through their quasi enforcement of the UN resolutions the only thing they kept out of Iarq was US Businesses.

We need to harm one each from France, Russia, Germany for every innocent hurt in this war.