God Bless John Howard, applying a generous dose of

[Tiger in Spain 0]

This quickie transcript can only be described as a direct, devastating pimp-slap to the liberal idiom that the U.S., Britain, and Australia are responsible for terrorist attacks in London and elsewhere in the world.

Could I start by saying the prime minister and I were having a discussion when we heard about it. My first reaction was to get some more information. And I really don't want to add to what the prime minister has said. It's a matter for the police and a matter for the British authorities to talk in detail about what has happened here.

Can I just say very directly, Paul, on the issue of the policies of my government and indeed the policies of the British and American governments on Iraq, that the first point of reference is that once a country allows its foreign policy to be determined by terrorism, it's given the game away, to use the vernacular. And no Australian government that I lead will ever have policies determined by terrorism or terrorist threats, and no self-respecting government of any political stripe in Australia would allow that to happen. (up yours, Spain!)

Can I remind you that the murder of 88 Australians in Bali took place before the operation in Iraq.

And I remind you that the 11th of September occurred before the operation in Iraq.

Can I also remind you that the very first occasion that bin Laden specifically referred to Australia was in the context of Australia's involvement in liberating the people of East Timor. Are people by implication suggesting we shouldn't have done that?

When a group claimed responsibility on the website for the attacks on the 7th of July, they talked about British policy not just in Iraq, but in Afghanistan. Are people suggesting we shouldn't be in Afghanistan?

When Sergio de Mello was murdered in Iraq -- a brave man, a distinguished international diplomat, a person immensely respected for his work in the United Nations -- when al Qaeda gloated about that, they referred specifically to the role that de Mello had carried out in East Timor because he was the United Nations administrator in East Timor.

Now I don't know the mind of the terrorists. By definition, you can't put yourself in the mind of a successful suicide bomber. I can only look at objective facts, and the objective facts are as I've cited. The objective evidence is that Australia was a terrorist target long before the operation in Iraq. And indeed, all the evidence, as distinct from the suppositions, suggests to me that this is about hatred of a way of life, this is about the perverted use of principles of the great world religion that, at its root, preaches peace and cooperation. And I think we lose sight of the challenge we have if we allow ourselves to see these attacks in the context of particular circumstances rather than the abuse through a perverted ideology of people and their murder.

[AURaptor 1,125]

But.....Bush lied! Haliburton! Karl Rove! Ummm... GITMO!!!!

[TrueBlue72 0]

The Aussie is right on target. The BEST way, maybe the only way to successfully deal with the recent terrorist attacks is to turn up the heat. If we know of towns or regions in Iraq or Afganistan that are supporting large numbers of Al Quada, move our troops to a safe distance and level them.

These terrorists and their supporters don't know or respect anything except force! Trying to be nice to them and win their support that way will NEVER work; they see nice as being weak and will exploit it every time.

Only if we make it clear that we have the power and the WILL to defeat them, will they crawl back under their rocks and hide. If we take the posititon: for every one of our people you kill, we will kill 10 of yours, and make them believe it, they will be defeated.