April 9, 2008
Rudd's big overseas trip is different from that of Howard. The style is that of a diplomat who has a grasp of foreign policy issues, who thinks beyond the role of lap dog to the US and the conservative scenarios of a future face-off between Australia and an Asian (Chinese) juggernaut, and doesn't act as the US 's stalking horse in the Middle East.
Alan Moir
There is an element of smoke and mirrors in all of this diplomatic discussion. The classic example is the talk about NATO when the alliance is bleeding itself white in Afghanistan. NATO has big problems there--- international terrorism, unchecked increase in drug trafficking, building a strong state and the economy-- and its military approach is going to solve these. How NATO is going to be able to extricate itself from the colossal muddle in Afghanistan is an open question. No one is talking about an exit strategy.
Rudd's talk about a more coherent strategy in the war in Afghanistan---eg., addressing the unchecked increase in drug trafficking----fell on stoney ground, despite the boom in opium-poppy cultivation and Afghanistan now suppliing 93% of the world total, the bulk of it grown in Helmand and other southern provinces that are most under the influence of the Taliban.
Rudd wasn't willing to address the realistic view that NATO is losing the war through backing the Kabul regime of of Hamid Karzai. The Taliban are not a spent force consisting of a bunch of naive young lads with no credible leader left. The government of Hamid Karzai controls barely 30% of the country. Most of the country is in the hands of warlords and other local leaders, with a tenth under the sway of the Taliban. A transformative victory by NATO is not at hand.
As Paul Rogers observes at Open Democracy
The term "occupying" and "occupation" are not in the vocabulary of the White House or 10 Downing Street: from their perspective what is happening is a major security operation to win the war on terror while bringing two key countries [Afghanistan and Iraq] safely into the western orbit. Krauthammer's "benign imperium" may look a little tattered around the edges but it remains the basis for coalition action
He argues that the reality is that the United States cannot continue - militarily, financially, or politically - to occupy countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan for years to come. The occupation of countries in the middle east and southwest Asia by western military forces is no longer politically feasible. The starting-point for any new policy will have to be complete withdrawal.
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Each year I compile a list of "Australia's 20 vilest people." I would like to see the annual winner exiled from Australia for a year or 2.
Last year the winner was Kevin Andrews, with Catharine Lumby a very close second. Even though I voted Labor at the last election I can already tell this year it will be Kevin Rudd for his abominable rhetorical skills.
Rudd sounds like a guy in Year 10 whose voice is breaking and uses big words repreatedly and inappropriately. His oratorical felicity could make up Vol II of the shortest book ever written, with Vol 1 being "The wit and spontaniety of Malcolm Fraser."
The diabolical thing is that his Muppet Treasurer is already popping out "good to be with you" and even La Gillard has a handbag full of "in due season."
Aaaaarrrrggghhhh.......