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We wouldn't pull out early to save hostage: Downer
Australia would not pull its troops out of Iraq even a week early to save the life of an Australian hostage, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said today. Mr Downer stood by his criticism of the Philippines for pulling out of Iraq, saying he had to send the right message to terrorists that Australia would not give in to their demands.
"Do we look like Filipinos to you, mate?"
Asked if that meant keeping troops there for an extra week rather than saving the life of a hostage, Mr Downer said yes. "Yes, because if you give in to the terrorists in one particular case, as I say all you're doing is empowering and emboldening them," Mr Downer told the John Laws radio program. "You've seen since the Philippines withdrawal, you've seen a spate of hostage-taking in Iraq. And well, why not? If these terrorists want to achieve certain objectives and they know by taking people hostage they can achieve them, it's the cheapest and easiest way to do their job."

The national security adviser to Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo yesterday lashed out at Mr Downer's criticism of the Philippines for withdrawing from Iraq to save the life of kidnapped truck driver Angelo de la Cruz, calling him narrow minded.
Must be a relative of Taaarayysa's.
But Mr Downer said while he did not enjoy criticising another country, it was vital to send a strong message to terrorists. "All sorts of people have had more than their fair share of comment about what we've done in Iraq," Mr Downer said. "And I don't think that I'm prepared to accept that on the one hand we can take a terrible hammering from some people, but on the other hand it's wrong for us ever to criticise what someone else does.

"It's not nice to criticise other countries, and we don't particularly. I don't do it unless I absolutely think it's necessary. ... But on the other hand I've got a responsibility to the Australian people first and foremost, and I must send out the sorts of messages that I judge are going to have the best impact in terms of protecting our people. ... And they're not a guarantee. They're just going to help."

Mr Downer conceded Mr de la Cruz would probably have died had the Philippines not withdrawn its troops but said more than one life was at stake. "I hope the tough line that I ... have taken generally, I hope that the sorts of statements we've made will make it less likely that our people will be taken hostage," he said. "Because what terrorists know is that they will not get anything out of the Australian government if they do something as egregious as take one of our people hostage. That's the message we want to send. There's no point in taking them hostage."
Another example clear Aussie thinking.

Posted by: Steve White 2004-07-26
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=39011