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| Southeast Asia |
| Australia pledges stronger backing for US-led 'war on terror' |
| 2002-10-13 |
| Australian Prime Minister John Howard has vowed that his country's support for the US-led 'war on terror' will not weaken despite the blasts in Bali which claimed more than 180 lives, mostly Aussie tourists. If it did anything else there'd be something wrong with the Aussies... Describing the tragedy as "barbaric, wicked and cowardly", Howard said on all available evidence to his government showed that the bombing was clearly a terrorist attack. Not noticing would indicate either blindness or a determination not to... "The indiscriminate, brutal and despicable way in which lives have been taken away on this occasion by an act of barbarity will I know deeply shock all Australians," he said. "The war against terrorism must go on with unrelenting vigor and an unconditional commitment." Hope that determination lasts when the time comes to do some pretty terrible things in the course of apprehending or killing the people behind them... Howard said while the Australian death toll was not known, the nation should prepare for more Australian deaths. Howard said the government's national security committee will discuss tomorrow plans in place to protect Australian borders from a possible terrorist attack. But he warned Australia was not immune and was as much a target as any other western country. More than a lot of other countries. Aussies drink beer, look at scantily clad wimmin, have been known to exhibit a sense of humor, and sometimes even show a determination to do what they damn well please. All those things are anathema to good Islamists. "People should get out of their minds that it can't happen here; it can, and it has happened to our own on our doorstep," Howard told reporters. 75 percent of the people admitted to a Bali hospital with injuries were Australian. Other nationalities include Swiss, German, Swedish, American, British and Italian. Sure hope the rest of the world soon notices that there's no difference among us infidels. The Crusades really are back — this time with Binny playing the Peter the Hermit role. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #1 A couple of other reasons we Aussies might have been the targets, as seems likely - strong support for the US position on Irag, and our role in getting the Indonesians to leave East Timor. Nothing the islamists hate more than to lose territory... |
| Posted by: parallel 2002-10-14 09:16:18 |