The day Australia stopped being everyone's best mate

The Telegraph (U.K.) ^ | 10/16/2002 | Germaine Greer

[Bahbah]

I didn't know that this horrid woman was Australian. I see they have their own Susan Sontag.

[gcruse]

The attack was horrible for Australia, but the author
of this article needed it as a wakeup call, and still
isn't where he needs to be.

[wimpycat]

Bravo! That's the most creative segue I've seen to putting the blame on the Americans, the root of all evil.

[Cicero]

Although Greer doesn't exactly blame it on the Australians, she is still looking for some reason why the terrorists attacked them.

People don't realize that, to Islamic terrorists, one westerner is pretty much the same as another. I doubt whether they cared what countries the young people in those night clubs came from. They were foreigners, westerners, infidels.

[dennisw]

"Meanwhile, tension between Muslims and non-Muslims in Australia is mounting, fuelled by media massaging of deplorable cases of gang-rapes of girls who happened to be Christian by boys who happened to be Muslim."


BWAHAHHAHAHHAHAHHAHA
She's part of the problem, not part of the solution. Age has not brought her wisdom.

[Gigantor]

Where is the BARF ALERT?!?

[Bahbah]

You mean Ms. Greer's segue, do you not?

[tet68]

Such sniveling as I have yet to see the like.
Girls who just happen to be christian and Boys who just happen to be Muslim who just happen to rape them indeed!
Germaine, your ignorance is only over shadowed by your hatred of America.

[Flashman_at_the_charge]

Meanwhile, tension between Muslims and non-Muslims in Australia is mounting, fuelled by media massaging of deplorable cases of gang-rapes of girls who happened to be Christian by boys who happened to be Muslim.

What an idiot.

[dighton]

Come see a truly horrendous column.

[Brett66]

Australian defence spending will certainly increase, with little effect on Australia's stature as an ally and policy maker but with crushing impact on the Australian people. Already, funding for essential social services has been cut and long-term welfare initiatives are being abandoned.

Oh no! Nothing can come between Aussies and the government teet!

[MoJo2001]

God Bless the people of Australia! I pray for peace, comfort, and a RESOLVE that will help them come to terms with the ATROCITY that happened in Bali. This is a WAKE UP CALL to the rest of the world that being everyone's buddy is irrelevant to these coldblooded murderers. May God's justice prevail!

[Billthedrill]

Poor Germaine still can't struggle out of her Cold War anti-American chic. Note the characterization of Communist imperialism as "fiction" - how else could you describe it, however? In fact, Australia's participation in the Southeast Asian troubles was precisely a blow against the Communist imperialism for which Greer has been a steady apologist for decades.

Nor can she get out of the Blame America mode even now. Australians were attacked in Bali because of some unstated and tenuous connection to American policies? Garbage!

The only way to get along with everyone is to take sides with no one, but successive Australian governments have chosen to ignore this obvious fact.

And wisely, too, because it is neither obvious nor a fact. Who, after all, did Poland offend in the 30s? China? Singapore? Hong Kong? Norway? Denmark?

And then we have the real howler, the notion that a Japanese invasion would have melted away from the harsh terrain. I note only that the jungles didn't seem to bother it elsewhere in Asia, nor did similar desert terrain hold Rommel back very much in North Africa. Armed oppositon was the only thing that did in both cases.

The fact is that Germaine Greer has a doctrinaire approach to world affairs that is unfounded on anything but her fond imaginings and a past longing for world socialism, and is characterized in every detail by utter failure: failed theories, failed doctrines, and failed, fascist societies for which she was on the very front of defense.

[A Navy Vet]

"Perhaps the thinking was that if Australia lined up with the United States in 1991 it could count on American support if ever it was needed, as it certainly would be in the event of aggression from without."

I am constantly amazed at the ignorance of so-called journalists. Australia has been an ally of ours for decades. Think they may even be a signator to the Southeast Asia Treaty Organization (SEATO), if it still exists.

[xp38]

The Female Eunuch Spews.

[Arthur Wildfire! March]

Already, funding for essential social services has been cut and long-term welfare initiatives are being abandoned.

A strong military usually seems to stimulate the economy and industrial innovation, the same as NASA. When the government goes after cutting edge technology, you are creating real jobs, production jobs at that. Beurocratic desk jockeys just don't cut it. And making weapons of war triggers a stronger sense of purpose than building roads. Better focus. More belief in the importance of what one is doing.

At the same time, Aussies make great soldiers. They are tough, resourceful, and top notch at hot desert fighting. I see them filling an important need for the Free World with light infantry, special forces, and perhaps airborne paratroopers. They need not go into mech units or air force so much, unless they really want to. Light infantry can be low cost comparatively speaking.

[Ronin]

"Meanwhile, tension between Muslims and non-Muslims in Australia is mounting, fuelled by media massaging of deplorable cases of gang-rapes of girls who happened to be Christian by boys who happened to be Muslim."

I honestly cannot believe the writer had the chutzpah to write this. I wonder what the reaction of most Aussies will be when they read it.

[jackbill]

Australian involvement in that conflict meant very little to its allies, the actual contribution being minuscule, because during the 1980s the Australian defence establishment had gradually and deliberately been reduced to next to nothing.

Perhaps the thinking was that if Australia lined up with the United States in 1991 it could count on American support if ever it was needed, as it certainly would be in the event of aggression from without. Eagerness to be involved in the Gulf actually marked Australia as a conspicuous member of what was perceived as the pro-Israel axis.

Miss Greer notwithstanding, I believe that there are a hell of a lot of us Americans who appreciate the support of the Aussies through WWII, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq, etc.. And we are there for them when they need us. At least I am.