what a wonderful world/croups Croupier, I agree with you that...

what a wonderful world/croups Croupier, I agree with you that Deegan has become a bit like the boy crying wolf however this does not invalidate what he has to say. Howard has done again what he does so well and that is to make an outrageous, unsubstantiated statement for maximum hoped effect, then when there is an outcry he steps back and says "That's not what I meant" or "I was taken out of context". It's really the height of political cynicism to attempt to asscoaite Bali with Hussein.

I heard Howard at lunchtime saying that attack on Iraq would reduce the chance of ongoing terrorism in Oz. Funny isn't it that Keelty the head of the Federal Police has just said exactly the opposite. I know who I choose to believe.

Also, I note the blatant bullying and attempt to buy votes by the US from the smaller elected countries in the Security Council. The US is surely cashing in all its chips on this one.

One of the worst things that Bush, Blair and Howard have done, and one can condemn them for so much, is to (irreversibly) damage people's ability to depend on any integrity of their politicians. All the lying, obfuscation, double talk and double dealing has weakened and is set to continue to weaken the power of true democracy. When everyone is too cynical to believe in good government can we really expect it?

Croups, you said the other day that this time there are no "goodies" just 2 sets of baddies in the fight. How true that it is and how sad that Howard has dragged this country into the gutter behind him....