Free Republic

<p>Australian Prime Minister John Howard yesterday voiced his support for President Bush's leadership in Iraq and the war on terror and told fellow allies that this is the "worst time imaginable" to waver in their support of U.S. foreign policy.</p>

WASHINGTON - President Bush on Thursday got a renewed vote of confidence from Australian Prime Minister John Howard, who gently warned European allies that "it is the worst time imaginable" for them to waver on Iraq. In turn, Bush assured Howard that the United States would treat fairly the two Australians currently detained in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and said the U.S. military would fully investigate any allegations of mistreatment of people held there. Howard welcomed that assurance, and said his country would keep its 850 troops in Iraq. "We will maintain a presence in Iraq until the job ... has...

Prime Minister John Howard has reaffirmed his commitment to Australian troops remaining in Iraq, despite the escalation of violence this week. Mr Howard has also sent a message of concern and support to the Japanese Prime Minister about the hostage situation. Mr Howard says the Japanese government is right not to negotiate with the hostage takers. "It's doubly important that that tactic not be allowed to succeed and at the present time any talk of withdrawal or any weakening of resolve or commitments will only encourage a repetition and extension of this kind of behaviour," Mr Howard said. "Talk of...

Pacific Rim Bureau (CNSNews.com) - Australia's opposition Labor leader has dropped in opinion polls, just days after saying he would pull Australian troops out of Iraq if he wins an election later this year. The majority of respondents in the poll also said Australian military personnel in Iraq should stay there "until their job is done," a stance echoing that of Prime Minister John Howard, who last year contributed troops, planes and ships to the U.S.-led effort to oust Saddam Hussein. The poll result came amid signs that the Labor Party may be divided over the statement by Mark...

Destined to stay with the USA Support for Washington has been a pillar of 100 years of Australian foreign policy, writes Gerard Henderson. There is no causal link between profile and influence. Because of international media coverage of the war against terrorism in Afghanistan and the second Gulf War, John Howard has become the best known prime minister in Australian history - outstripping Bob Hawke, Paul Keating and Malcolm Fraser. Yet, as a former Labor leader, Kim Beazley, has argued, Australia was never so influential as in 1918, because of the key role played by the Australian military in the...

<p>CANBERRA, Australia--In the shock that followed the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the U.S. the world united to condemn terrorism. When 88 Australians were among the dead in the bombing atrocity committed in Bali in October 2002, there was, amid the grief and anger, an overwhelming unity in our resolve to stand against terror.</p>

Editorial: We were right to go to war against Iraq THERE is no such thing as a good war. Every death is a wicked waste, every ruined home a mark of misery. But there are just wars democracies must fight, and last year's campaign to disarm Saddam Hussein was one such struggle. A year on, we must consider it a success in the continuing campaign against global terror. The dictator's disgusting regime is gone forever. The prospect of a democratic Iraq serves as a potential model to replace the motley collection of dictatorships that pass for governments throughout the Middle...

Australia Says It Stands by the U.S. Australia Says It Won't Back Away From U.S. Despite Fears It Could Be the Next Terror Target The Associated Press SYDNEY, Australia March 16 — Australia's foreign minister promised Tuesday that the government would not back away from its close alliance with the United States despite the terrorist bombing attacks on Spain, another member of the U.S.-led occupation force in Iraq. Foreign Minister Alexander Downer urged Spain's new prime minister not to pull its 1,300 troops from Iraq, as he has promised to do unless the United Nations takes over peacekeeping by June...

The United States Army has awarded commendation and achievement medals to three Darwin soldiers who served in Iraq. Sergeant Steven Attlier, Corporal Carl Connell and Corporal Damien Woolfe are among 61 personnel who are on their way back from Iraq and will arrive in Darwin tomorrow night. The three were members of the security detachment in Baghdad that provides protection for Australian Government personnel. Their mission was to clear unexploded ordinance and discarded ammunition found near the Australian Representative Office in Baghdad and transit routes used by diplomats. US Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Baker awarded the medals for clearing large amounts...

IN the new age of international terrorism, even more than before, Australia's alliance with the US is the bedrock of our national defence and security. We now rely on the US, to an unprecedented degree, to bolster our electronic warfare and intelligence capabilities. Following the Bali outrage 15 months ago, and with mounting evidence of organised terror networks throughout Southeast Asia, it has never been more imperative to keep the US, a country with a strong isolationist impulse in its political history, interested in our region from a security standpoint. In that context, provided the details are acceptable, the idea...

The top American uniformed officer delivered the American military's thanks to one of its most steadfast allies here today. Air Force Gen. Richard B. Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, thanked his counterpart, Army Gen. Peter Cosgrove, chief of the Australian Defense Force, for his nation's help in Iraq and Afghanistan and in the global war on terrorism. Myers is finishing a trip through the Asia-Pacific region with a stop in Australia. He met here with Cosgrove and Defense Minister Robert Hill, and earlier in the day with Australian Prime Minister John Howard in Sydney. Myers met with...

PRIME Minister John Howard today led a scathing attack on France for its strong opposition to war on Iraq as a senior French minister called the criticism of his country "stupid." Since the government threw its support behind a US-led strike on Iraq yesterday, a succession of coalition MPs have attacked Paris for threatening to veto a resolution backing war in the United Nations Security Council. Four months before Jacques Chirac becomes the first French president to visit Australia, Mr Howard said the French were simply trying to capitalise on council divisions to further their own interests. "I think the...

PRIME Minister John Howard has pledged himself to a tireless effort to convince a sceptical Australian public that sending troops to war against Iraq was a right and just decision. Just 4½ hours after receiving a 6am telephone call from President George W. Bush, Mr Howard announced at a televised news conference that the Australian troops, ships and planes sent to the Middle East in January would join an American-led assault on the regime of Saddam Hussein. Mr Howard took Mr Bush's request for Australian troops to an emergency Cabinet meeting before reporting to his Liberal and National colleagues. "I...

Australian Prime Minister John Howard said today his government would commit 2,000 military personnel to any U.S.-led strike aimed at disarming Iraq. The government also announced it had ordered the five diplomats who work at the embassy in Iraq and their families to leave the country, giving them five days to pack their bags -- a direct result of Australia's decision to join any war against Iraq. Canada, on the other hand, announced that its armed forces would play no role in any attack launched on Iraq by the United States -- a decision critics said would further aggravate the...