No Australian politician can say what I have just written, but all are entitled to think it

"entitled" should be "required." No public servant has the luxury of ignoring the largest and most imminent threat to those that he serves.

Send a g'day with an extra helping of good on ya to an Australian serviceperson by emailing:

messagestothetroops@defence.gov.au

Those Aussies have balls...

Big Brass Ones

PRIME Minister John Howard today lashed out at France following French President Jacques Chirac's stinging criticism of the United States over the war against Iraq.PRIME Minister John Howard today lashed out at France following French President Jacques Chirac's stinging criticism of the United States over the war against Iraq.

"The French have been utterly opportunistic from the very beginning on this issue," Mr Howard told reporters in Sydney today, following a speech by Mr Chirac to the United Nations.

Mr Chirac told the UN the US-led war had "shaken the multilateral system" and that there was no justification for a superpower to act alone, without UN backing.

But Mr Howard defended the US, saying: "If America and her allies had not acted, then Iraq would still be run by Saddam Hussein.

"Those that advocated another course have to accept that if their advice had been followed Saddam Hussein would still be in power in Iraq, with all of the torture and the human rights abuses that is involved in that.

"It may suit countries like France now to say you shouldn't do anything without a new Security Council resolution, but countries like France haven't always adopted that attitude in the past."

Australia looks to be about 200 miles from the nearest small islands of the Indonesian chain. Is there a reason for Australia to worry about inability to control its airspace and sea lanes, as well as its immigration? Unlike the U.S., there are no overland borders to worry about so they don't have to worry about illegals who may mean them harm, right?

islam = peace

They were alongside us in Nam, too.
Their presence was felt way out of proportion to their numbers.
A few good mates.
Everybody wanted one of their "Go to Hell!" hats.
You know, the almost-a cowboy-hat with the brim tacked up on one side.

He just might be the one and only politician who is dealing with reality. May more follow his lead.

Sorry if someone's already mentioned this before but I just noticed it (this is waaay OT btw). The cover of the NYT today has a pic of mourners of Akila al-Hashimi, the murdered Iraqi Governing Councilwoman, seated around her coffin, praying. Her coffin is wrapped in the Iraqi flag. The Iraqi flag has the Allah Akbar removed! I think this is a very good sign.

It's because Australia has not yet become a feminized vaginocracy, like all of Old Europe and half of America.

Interesting how the Australians, the Israelis and we Americans (not the LLL) get it. It's so simple--the Islamists want us dead.

The French apparently see the Islamists, Arafat, etc, as allies in their bid to undermine the US and Israel. If the French would stop surrendering to them, they would not only lose an ally--they would also gain an enemy.

Splodeydopes at the Eiffel Tower. Mon Dieu! We surrender...again!

Anybody got any news on the 27 IAF feygelim( Ptui!) ?

Saturdays suck around here.
Most of our yehudi achim are observing Shabbat & I miss them.

#8 evariste: No, I missed it. Thanks for the info. (yet another reason why I come to LGF)

The Aussies are in some ways in more danger than the US is. We have a much larger population, and much less unoccupied space than they do. It would be much easier for the Islamists to set up terror camps in Australia than in the US, lots of open and empty areas that no one ever goes into. True, the US border policy is stupid, but we are much further away from a large Muslim country full of Islamists than Australia is.

Bob G.-Half the US a feminized vaginocracy? Who'dathunkit?
I personally belong to the masculinized penisocracy, but I pay regular visits of state to the feminized vaginocracy's officials.

Some nice photos at Haaretz. Featuring Tommy Lapid in an Indian costume with a sword and Christopher Reeves with a kipa.

#13 FH
"We have a much larger population, and much less unoccupied space than they do. It would be much easier for the Islamists to set up terror camps in Australia than in the US, lots of open and empty areas that no one ever goes into."

Are you sure of that?
Australia's unpopulated areas are relatively bare of forest & eminently "scrutable" from aircraft/satellite.
Here in New England, for example, there are still deep forests & mountainous areas where no white man has ever set foot.
Remember the clinic bomber who evaded the FBI & any number of pro searchers for months.
Then, there's the Canadian wilderness...Mon Dieu!

Nope. If I wanted to set up a Semi-permanent covert camp, it would be here in the Northeastern U.S.

is there someone here that knows alot about indonesia?

my question is, whether or not indonesia will be looking in the near future at a limited ability to feeds its exploding population? i know they have nearly 200 million or so right now, and australia is somewhere in the neighborhood of 20 million. granted, the amount of ariable land in australia is limited, but there is plenty of room there for the muslims to strech out.

Evariste,
remember what GW said about "foreign entanglements".
Those treaties, uttered in moments of passion, can be a bitch to get out of.

I mentioned this yesterday, but I'll say it again: please read Ross Terrill's superb piece, "Awesome Aussies: An extra-special relationship" in the latest edition of The Weekly Standard.

On a personal note, I've lived in the US since 1996 and have been delighted at the warmth every American has shown me. There is indeed a special bond between our countries, and when, for instance, the US goes into battle I can walk down the street holding my head up high knowing that Aussie boys are right there beside them. May this always be the case.

Australia is a huge country geographically, but vastly outnumbered by Indonesia population-wise, 10:1. Even as a kid, I'd glance at my Jacaranda school atlas and scan our northern coastline wondering ... wondering ...

When I used to live in Israel for a couple of years in the 90s my family back in Oz would be worried sick after terrorist attacks. But now – since Bali especially – (most) Aussies know there is truly no place on earth immune from the threat of Islamofascism.

I would like to end this personal note by saying that I at one time was (mildly) anti-American, but that was purely out of ignorance and stupidity. Also there is something in the Aussie character that likes to "take the piss out" of one's superiors. (Superior strength, size, influence, etc.) I look back on those days with a sense of shame ... though on the positive side this learning experience has helped me to understand and ultimately turnaround the misconceptions and petty jealousies I have encountered in America-bashers in my travels.

P.S.
Joel. Got your note, will be in touch shortly.

Evariste's Zaide-lol! No treaties are planned, just joint exercises!

God Bless 'em all!

Wild Justice-excellent! I was just about to ask if any of our regulars was an Aussie.
You're nick sounds a lot funnier now that I'm imagining Steve Irwin saying it ;-)

God Bless the Aussies.

It is their "frontier spirit" and love of freedom that ties them to the US.

If I didn't hate long plane rides so damned much (I am very hyper-active (was a poster child for Ritalin) and can't even stand the mere thought of a 24 hour plane flight. Yeah I know there are stops, but still...), I would have visited them a long time ago.

My wife really wants to go and has told me she will ask the Dr. if he can give me some sort of horse tranquilizer to dope me up for the flight.

NOOOOOOOO!!!! Please tell me I didn't just use the wrong "your"! Oy. ;~P

evariste,

Well it's a complicated story. I was born in South Africa and still have traces of that accent!

My Aussie/SA/USA mongrel accent comes out sounding British oddly enough.

I can't imagine a South African accent, having never heard one...What's it like?
You know, a lot of the time, some American accents sound very British to me in different ways-New York, Boston, and lots of Southern dialects.

Evariste,
remember what GW said about "foreign entanglements".
Those treaties, uttered in moments of passion, can be a bitch to get out of.

Evariste's Zaide-freaky, did you mean to post that twice?

Xena, thanks for the email address-I'm working on an email right now.

"........antagonizing the atavistic bigots in the Muslim world........"

If the Aussies (or we Americans) do nothing we'll still be the targets of these barbaric scum.

The US and Australia have much in common. We have cowboys; they have cowboys. We conquered a vast land of deserts, plains, forests.; they conquered the Outback. We love barbeque; they love barbeque. :)

Aussies are a tough lot. Let's say you have your back against the wall in some dive bar. Let's say you're in a foxhole in the Mideast or somewhere. Who do want by your side? A whiny frenchman? No, you dope! You want an Aussie (or anyone else in the "anglosphere". Or an Israeli, of course.).

The Aussie military is one of the best in the world. Only problem is that its pretty small. Perhaps too small to deal with 200 million savages a puddle-jump away.

I'm proud to have Australia as an ally. The fate of our two countries is forever intertwined. They've always been there for us and we've always been there for them. Nothing can change that.

Unless, of course, Howie or Wes wins the 2004 election. Then, they're on their own..........

Evariste's Zaide

I have been here, just too lazy to post.

Disregard #27.
I have no idea how that happened.

evariste,

South African accent. Boy, how do you describe it? More British-sounding than either the Aussie or Kiwi accents. And unlike those, it has a Dutch influence ...

zulubaby and I got talking about our accents some months ago. We both get mistaken for Brits all the time ...

17 RIP Ford whether or not indonesia will be looking in the near future at a limited ability to feeds its exploding population?

I won't claim to know a lot --I know some and have spent considerable time there.

Indonesia has considerable natural resources but a corrupt, inefficient and ineffective government for the entire 50 years since their independence. There is ongoing violence apart from the terrorism.

I don't think food shortage is going to be as much of an issue as they already don't have the infrastructure --it is poor to non-existent. There is NO clean water and no quality medical care --far too few doctors and nurses.

The average life expectancy is only 65. The air is polluted from their slash and burn policies which also has resulted in the destruction of land for farming.

The short answer is --they DO have the natural resources (it's very similar to Hawaii) but the leadership has done nothing but mismanage. Graft, nepotism and bribery is the status quo.

"only" 65? 65 is a pretty good life expectancy! Relatively.

Good taste in beer, good taste in women, good taste in enemies, good taste in friends, what's not to like about the Aussies?

#35 evariste 65 is a pretty good life expectancy! Relatively.

OK, compared to western countries where it is at least 10 to 12 years more --late 70's. It's relatively good for a third world country!

reaganite-lol at "good taste in enemies" :-)

#38 evariste
Killing the right people seems right to me!

FUCK THIS PC
Unlease the dogs of war.
Winner takes all.
All muslims beware.

#40 MCWARRIOR
Find your way back to indymedia, your drivel isn't welcome here.

MCWARRIOR-get a Mac, already!

reaganite-whenever I talk to my recruiter about joining the service and he asks why I want to join, I'm gonna say: "I want to kill America's enemies." Cuz that's pretty much true. They probably don't hear that very much though. Most people probably mention college money or something. :-)

Australia and Britain are our only friends, I think Australia may be stronger internally as far as our alliance goes. Free trade with Australia and all friends of the US and allies in the War on Terror. May the western-Israeli alliance stay stronger and expand wider. Viva la America, Viva la Israel, Viva La Britain, Viva la Australia

#43 evariste

"I want to kill America's enemies."

I don't want to kill anyone, not that I have a problem with killing my enemies. If you walk into a recruiter and make that statement you most likely will be turned away.

I mean to say it with a shiteater on my face, so it's obvious I'm joking...Would they really turn me away? Damn. Maybe I shouldn't say that.

We don't expect an Indonesian invasion, but when you look at Indonesia:

* It's one of our nearest neigbours
* It has more than ten times our population
* It's a predominately Muslim country

Indonesia is a democracy, but the military are still a very powerful political force.

If there was an Islamic nation of 3.5 billion people off the coast of the U.S. (in place of, say, Cuba), I expect Americans would have certain concerns...

#4 Paladin 2:

Is there a reason for Australia to worry about inability to control its airspace and sea lanes, as well as its immigration?

Yeah, this is a real problem. Almost all of the population of Australia is in the good bit, running in a broad arc along the coast from Brisbane to Adelaide. (There's a smaller fertile area in south-west Western Australia, around Perth.)

The far north is very sparsely populated, particularly the Northern Territory. (Queensland has tourism thanks to the Great Barrier Reef, and WA has mining.) And there's a heck of a lot of coastline to patrol up there.

Australia's defence plans for dealing with an invasion from the North basically involve evacuating and pulling back a thousand miles or so - then harrass the invaders from the air, wipe out their supply lines and so on. Which would be kind of fun to watch if it wasn't so serious.

#46 evariste
You don't need a gimmick, just state what you have been stating here. I'd be proud to see you in.

#44 Joshua:

Free trade with Australia and all friends of the US and allies in the War on Terror.

Yes, I expect that will be on the table when President Bush visits next month. The U.S. imposes hefty tariffs on some of Australia's major exports (steel, for example, and lamb). A free trade agreement would be a real boost - for Australia's economy, for friendship between the two countries (the farmers in particular are a bit miffed over those tariffs), and for John Howard politically.

Trade is one of the (few) areas where the U.S. and Australia don't see entirely eye-to-eye.

Well, I'd actually be shocked if they even asked my why, considering recruiters' job is to be a salesman and not a bouncer...Thanks reaganite!

I have a question for some of you Aussies out there.

I read a book a while back, by Bill Bryson, called "In a Sunburned Country"

I this book Bryson mentioned a possibility of an Atomic Bomb have been set off in the Great Victorian Desert, by the terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo...

This Atomic blast went unreported, because of the severe remoteness of the region!

Are any of you familiar with this?

Here is an exerpt from Bryson's book...
(By the way...I love this author)

CHAPTER ONE

* * * *

But then Australia is such a difficult country to keep track of.
On my first visit, some years ago, I passed the time on the long flight
reading a history of Australian politics in the twentieth century, wherein I
encountered the startling fact that in 1967 the prime minister, Harold Holt,
was strolling along a beach in Victoria when he plunged into the surf and
vanished. No trace of the poor man was ever seen again. This seemed doubly
astounding to me - first that Australia could just lose a prime minister (I
mean, come on) and second that news of this had never reached me.

The fact is, of course, we pay shamefully scant attention to our
dear cousins Down Under - not entirely without reason, of course. Australia
is after all mostly empty and a long way away. Its population, just over 18
million, is small by world standards

* * * *

But even allowing for all this, our neglect of Australian affairs
is curious. Just before I set off on this trip I went to my local library in
New Hampshire and looked Australia up in the New York Times Index to see
how much it had engaged our attention in recent years. I began with the 1997
As it turns out, 1997 was actually quite a good year for
Australian news. In 1996 the country was the subject of just nine news
reports and in 1998 a mere six. Australians can't bear it that we pay so
little attention to them, and I don't blame them. This is a country where
interesting things happen, and all the time......

....Consider just one of those stories that did make it into the Times
in 1997, though buried away in the odd-sock drawer of Section C. In January
of that year, according to a report written in America by a Times reporter,
scientists were seriously investigating the possibility that a mysterious
seismic disturbance in the remote Australian outback almost four years
earlier had been a nuclear explosion set off by members of the Japanese
doomsday cult Aum Shinrikyo.

It happens that at 11:03 p.m. local time on May 28, 1993,
seismograph needles all over the Pacific region twitched and scribbled in
response to a very large-scale disturbance near a place called Banjawarn
Station in the Great Victoria Desert of Western Australia. Some
long-distance truckers and prospectors, virtually the only people out in
that lonely expanse, reported seeing a sudden flash in the sky and hearing
or feeling the boom of a mighty but far-off explosion. One reported that a
can of beer had danced off the table in his tent.

The problem was that there was no obvious explanation. The
seismograph traces didn't fit the profile for an earthquake or mining
explosion, and anyway the blast was 170 times more powerful than the most
powerful mining explosion ever recorded in Western Australia. The shock was
consistent with a large meteorite strike, but the impact would have blown a
crater hundreds of feet in circumference, and no such crater could be found.
The upshot is that scientists puzzled over the incident for a day or two,
then filed it away as an unexplained curiosity—the sort of thing that
presumably happens from time to time.

Then in 1995 Aum Shinrikyo gained sudden notoriety when it
released extravagant quantities of the nerve gas sarin into the Tokyo subway
system, killing twelve people. In the investigations that followed, it
emerged that Aum's substantial holdings included a 500,000-acre desert
property in Western Australia very near the site of the mystery event.
There, authorities found a laboratory of unusual sophistication and focus,
and evidence that cult members had been mining uranium. It separately
emerged that Aum had recruited into its ranks two nuclear engineers from the
former Soviet Union. The group's avowed aim was the destruction of the
world, and it appears that the event in the desert may have been a dry run
for blowing up Tokyo.

You take my point, of course. This is a country that loses a prime
minister and that is so vast and empty that a band of amateur enthusiasts
could conceivably set off the world's first nongovernmental atomic bomb on
its mainland and almost four years would pass before anyone noticed.*
Clearly this is a place worth getting to know.

* Interestingly, no Australian newspapers
seem to have picked up on this story and the
New York Times never returned to it, so
what happened in the desert remains a
mystery. Aum Shinrikyo sold its desert
property in August 1994, fifteen months after
the mysterious blast but seven months
before it gained notoriety with its sarin
attack in the Tokyo subway system. If any
investigating authority took the obvious step
of measuring the area around Banjawarn
Station for increased levels of radiation, it
has not been reported.

BTW;

I must say , ...I love the Aussies too.

I have a few distant cousins that were "tranported" for 'treason' and 'cattle stealing' from Ireland, during the last century...
Also, had some distant Uncle who was sent because he was fishing within sight of the landlord's house... :-)

Ah well...

My husband, who has a few Aussie mates, was supposed to make his first trip to Sydney, on Sept. 2001...Well, he never was able to make the trip, ...

Every year, his friends call from the football match, that they were all supposed to attend together...
Of course, they call in the middle of the night, to remind him of the fun he's missing out on!

One of his friends, stayed with us a few years back.
This guy had never seen a heavy snowfall before...
When he and my husband were walking along the lakefront near Soldier's Field, he said...

Something is wrong....

What's wrong? asked my husband..

It's my ears...They are tingling and burning...How can that be?

My husband laughed all the way home, (after a few more revitalizing ""pints) to warm his ears...

The poor guy had never experienced the cold, and frozen ears before...

#51 fiery celt

Cecil Adams has a Straight Dope about that very topic. Cece thinks it was a meteor strike, and the reason they never found the crater was that the area in question is so huge. I don't know if I buy that, but it's an interesting read.

And LOL your Aussie friend and his tingly ears.

I just got done talking to an Aussie and she is convinced that Bryson got it right. Wow

The way I understand it refining Uranium takes a large aparatus. And it's not easy to do without exposing yourself to lethal radiation. A meteor would be an easier explanation.

There would be too much stuff left over for it to be overlooked by a search if it were a nuke.

I'm proud (as an Aussie) that John Howard committed Australian troops to Iraq, and also proud of Australia's military tradition, however sometimes the political situation here makes me wonder if our warm relationship with America will last forever.

Maybe it's just because I live in inner-city Melbourne and I walk past hundreds of anti-US posters and "socialist alternative" meeting flyers every time I walk down to the supermarket, but it seems to me that there is still a strong current of anti-American sentiment in some segments of Australian society.

The trade unions here are absolutely hysterical in their hatred of Howard (a recent billboard showed Howards grimacing face superimposed over a mushroom cloud), and the state-owned media is uniformly anti-US and anti-Israel (worse than the beeb, believe me).

The opposition Labour government was against the war in Iraq (they did start equivocating once it started so they couldn't be accused of not supporting the troops), and I fear we could be only an election away from an NZ-style leftist government. Up until the Iraq war the Kiwis had participated in 6 out of 6 of the major wars mentioned in this article as America's allies - one fuckup at the ballot and they've turned into an America-snubbing Arafat-brown-nosing embarrassment.

I pray the same thing doesn't happen here.

#56 Barry Crocker

Yeah, we have our share of idiots too. But as long as Simon Crean is head of the Labour party, we have nothing to worry about. (Except the embarrasment that he's an Aussie.)

I have to say, I was no great fan of John Howard or George Bush (much less Tony Blair) before the war in Iraq. What drove me firmly into their camp was not just the fact that they were doing the right and necessary thing, but the sheer mendacity of the arguments ranged against them by the Left.

P.S. I met you once at a supermarket checkout in Sydney. :)

# 45 Reaganite

The British Army has the same attitude.

I will never forget the first lecutre i got from the C.S.M.

"You snotty piece of shite,do you think that Her Majesty had her troops spend all that time and money training you so you could do a Rambo.
Your task is to do the job and survive.
Get out of my sight."

Wise words

#14 evariste

Bob G.-Half the US a feminized vaginocracy? Who'dathunkit?
I personally belong to the masculinized penisocracy, but I pay regular visits of state to the feminized vaginocracy's officials.

This gets my vote for the funniest post of the day! :-)

And, FWIW coming from an atheist, God bless the Aussies!

For the record, Australia has fought and lost many brave souls alongside the US in every major war (including Vietnam, in which the British did not participate)

Very few American films on Nam recognise Australia's role in that war.

#60 lewisinoz

Very few American films on Nam recognise Australia's role in that war.

Considering how we're portrayed during that war, the Australians should consider themselves lucky.

Those of us that were there haven't forgotten who was with us. Aussies and Thais were a little to our south, but Koreans and Filipinos operated in my AO.

#56 Barry crocker

the state-owned media is uniformly anti-US and anti-Israel (worse than the beeb, believe me).

It just state owned media of any sort always turns out bad . I wouldn't worry on it . Something about being gauranteed a paycheck makes people like that.

G’day from Broome Western Australia :-)

I’ve been a Lizardoid minion for quite some time (my wife and I found this site just days after Sept.11), but don’t post very often due mainly to work commitments.
I just thought I’d put in my $0.02, and hopefully give some readers some idea of the part of Australia I live in.
To start some distances:

Broome – Perth(W.A capital) 2361km 1463miles

Broome – Port Hedland(nearest large town) 600km 372miles

Broome – Darwin(N.T capital) 1865km 1156miles
(There’s not a lot in between)
Broome – Bali approx 600km 372miles
The wet season is still coming and already the temps are hitting 38-40C

#4 Paladin 2

Australia looks to be about 200 miles from the nearest small islands of the Indonesian chain. Is there a reason for Australia to worry about inability to control its airspace and sea lanes, as well as its immigration?

'Our Navy is doing a good job of stopping the “boat people” some of whom are under the impression that they just have to walk inland to find civilization. All they are likely to find is death from thirst or hunger, assuming they get past the salt-water crocodiles.'

#6 Evariste's Zaide

Everybody wanted one of their "Go to Hell!" hats.
You know, the almost-a cowboy-hat with the brim tacked up on one side.

'Do you mean our Slouch hats? 100% bunny(rabbit) fur felt. The Australian Army has been using them since before the Boer War(still got mine-Not Boer war I’m not THAT old)'

#13 FH
"We have a much larger population, and much less unoccupied space than they do. It would be much easier for the Islamists to set up terror camps in Australia than in the US, lots of open and empty areas that no one ever goes into."

'Yes there are vast unpopulated areas, but it is mostly desert(70% of the continent) with very little surface water. Even the Aboriginals have a hard time out there.'

#36 reaganite 9/27/2003 06:09PM PST

Good taste in beer, good taste in women, good taste in enemies, good taste in friends, what's not to like about the Aussies?

'As we say out here “You’ll do me as a mate” ;-)'

#51 fiery celt 9/27/2003 07:24PM PST

I have a question for some of you Aussies out there.
I read a book a while back, by Bill Bryson, called "In a Sunburned Country
In this book Bryson mentioned a possibility of an Atomic Bomb have been set off in the Great Victorian Desert, by the terrorist group Aum Shinrikyo...

'The Aum Shinrikyo at that time was the talk of the town so to speak. They had purchased a property some 200km from Perth in the wheat belt, but were only in residence for about 3 months before the law caught up with them. The Great Victoria Desert is really Central Australia, and is mostly the Woomera rocket range and is closed to the public, permits are required to travel in this area. Woomera was also the site of the 1960’s British Atomic bomb tests. But as to a nuclear blast in the period mentioned. No it did not happen(must have been a slow news day) :-). The area from the GVD to the wheat belt is subject to numerous earth quakes/tremors every year'

BTW any Lizardoids visiting this area drop me a line, the fridge is always well stocked.

Rod

Evariste..

Half the US a feminized vaginocracy? Who'dathunkit?
I personally belong to the masculinized penisocracy, but I pay regular visits of state to the feminized vaginocracy's officials.

:-)))))))))))

C.

Re : Rocket Rod's #63:

I live at the other end of the country, both in distance and socially. I'm in Canberra, the capital of the joint. Pop 300,000 people. The nearest major city's about 100 km away, with a population of 30,000, and we're in the "densely populated" part of the country. Within 100 miles there are 4 places with more than 10,000 people in, so by Australian standards, we are. Broome BTW has a pop of about 13,000. The whole of Western Australia - an area about the size of the US west of the Mississippi - has a population of about 2 million, 3/4 of whom live in one city.

But one thing's the same:

BTW any Lizardoids visiting this area drop me a line, the fridge is always well stocked.

#51 fiery celt

I have read that same book at least five times. I was going to mention the Aum Shinrikyo incident, but since I live on the other side of the world, I was sleeping while you all were posting.

I am also in total agreement with uhh... Lizardoid Minion number number number number. The threat of an invasion of the north is very real. Not many people live there. Sure it's inhospitable... duh, that's why people don't live there. And Australia is a very big country, but the population is concentrated, like he said, in just a few areas, mostly along the coast, east of the mountains. An attack on a population that concentrated would be devastating.

Also, I love Bill Bryson, but sometimes he writes things that make me grit my teeth, such as when he refers to the US, there's a tone of smug half-shame... as if he thinks that everywhere else is better than America. But, he did write an excellent book called The Mother Tongue, about the English language, which is one of my favorites.

#56 Barry Crocker

I have a theory about a lot of the Australian anti-Americanism. My aunt took off to Australia back in the 60's, in protest of the Vietnam War. She is not the only one. She has a large circle of friends, many of them American, Canadian or British ex-pats, all basically in the same boat. They left their home countries in protest of the war, and came to Australia to be teachers.

Now, these anti-American pink (if not fully Red) people have been teaching Australian children for the better part of forty years. I know my aunt has taught tens of thousands of children.. multiply that by fourteen or fifteen (the number of people just like her in her circle of friends)... that'll give you a huge number right there, of people who were taught by my pinko aunt and her pinko friends... somewhere along the way, their opinions were disseminated to those children.

And these are only the people I know personally. Just think how many more there are out there.

I love to read Bill Bryson's books, but he does drop the occasional snippy remark about America and then I wince.
Count me in as one who admires the Aussies. They have a fine contempt for pretentiousness that I love.

I have a friend who went into the Royal Australian Air force two years ago. (Whether idle boasting - or actually policy I’m not sure): He told me that Australia had two prominent plans to defend against an Indonesian invasion.

1) Pray that the Americans come to save us.
2) Throw the rules of war out the door, and do everything we can to bomb power plants, water processing facilities, etc in the hope that ruined urban Indonesia will force their force's supply lines to be cut.

Here is just an example of what Australia is faced with.

Both of this incidents happened in the last few days, neither were terrorists but typical "protests" in which the protesters were armed with guns, knives and machetes and people were killed because they didn't like something.

http://www.thejakart...

http://www.thejakart...

Again, it is a mentality that resorts to violence.

#65 Alan E Brain

We have certain advantages over Broome too: within a few km are several wineries, and within 10 miles there's a great microbrewery that does a superb Irish Red.

Ahh, but do you have a beach like Cable beach at your door-step, and the lovely Broome maidens, those birds of paradise(Aboriginal,Asian,Caucasian mix) are very easy on the eye.
It doesn't snow either ;-)

Australia is a great country. I moved from South Africa to Australia three years ago and have no regrets whatsoever.

They recognise my South African accent here, as there are many expats from South Africa. Our accent certainly doesn't sound very British.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with John Howard, the man has balls and sticks by his principles.

The old yellow peril fear. I spent a year at college learning how this fear of invasion was a product of the flawed character and reasoning of our forebears. Of course the college tutors who taught me this would say the same thing about Australians' fear of islamonazis.
The Japs bombed the crap out of northern Australia in the 1940's and their submariness fired shells at my hometown. http://home.st.net.a...
but i guess I should trust my betters and accept that fear of our northern neighbours and the islamonazis is just a product of my prejudice and I should just get over it..haha...whatever..
BTW a lot of Australian anti-Americanism stems from the fact that your servicemen were screwing our women while our servicemen were off fighting the Japs and the Germans. I have an uncle whose father was an American soldier(he's probably dead now). There still is a lot of gratitude toward the USA for helping save us back in WW2(and i don't blame you for screwing our women).

#71 Rocket Rod

It doesn't snow either ;-)

Doesn't snow in Sydney, either. Though I expect property prices are a bit lower in Broome.

Do you have ADSL there? Might be time to move :)

To #67, Mrs Robinson.

How right you are. It seems that every single person I knew during the late 1960s and 70s who was virulently anti involvement in Vietnam is now teaching school - and has been doing so for the past 20-30 years.

Theres no doubt that the Australian education system was taken over by leftwingers and their view of the world has been imprinted on everything taught to children.

I hardly recognised some of the 'history' my children were taught - until recently, no school would have remotely considered encouraging high school students to publically protest Australian foreign policy (even assuming that twelve to eighteen year olds possess the knowledge required to form an opinion). But this happened when the US decided to invade Iraq - some schools gave students time off to attend protest rallies and make banners.

As for Indonesia, I think that every Australian has a secret fear of invasion. This is a huge unstable country directly to our north, and Australia has a vast coastline that is impossible to protect. I believe this fear is one of the reasons Australians elected a conservative government. The ALP has a regrettable tendancy to kowtow to Asia, which goes down like a lead balloon with most Australians.

God bless our Aussie brothers and sisters! There is nothing like an Aussie to cover your back, scout out front, or proudly march at your side.

Yes, it may irritate some Islamists that Australia firmly states it's Western alliance. And may I say that such irritation is too farking bad for them. Better to stand proud and tall for our comman heritage than to kow-tow to some useless PC jargon which would, at best, delay the day of reckoning.

The West WILL prevail.

Bob G. babbles inanely: "It's because Australia has not yet become a feminized vaginocracy, like all of Old Europe and half of America."

Seriously, what the fuck is the matter with you? There's an article that celebrates Aussie/American cooperation and affection, and you toss out this sort of absurdity?

Methinks you have a small and ineffectual penis.

Sydney here.

The large expanse of water acts as a natural barrier to the "out-rigger-canoe-economies" to our north west. Modern warfare is not something third world "shithole countries" do that well. Projection of force over water is extremely difficult, even for small advanced economies such as our own, so I don't lose any sleep worrying about the Islamic hordes sailing over the horizon soon, or at all.

With a little help from our friends I think we could deal with the combined airforces of all surrounding "shithole countries" with not much trouble. We have a small, modern, professional airforce with pretty good US equipment.

Hostile commando type raids on our sparsely populated north west coast have been considered by our defence planners for over 20 years. Such raids would be of nuisance value only and if our ground and airforces didn't clean them up the hostile terrain would do the job for us.

I think we have more to fear from the imported fifth column of the ROPMA and their LLL useful idiots. The Labor Party Opposition is riddled with touchyfeely types who know a lot about moral equivalence. From my reading of this blog, and other US based blogs, it seems that we have a similar LLL to Lizards ratio as the US.

Luckily for us, most academics are considered 'wankers' by your typical Oz and they don't get the elevated social status that they do in more "enlightened" countries.

John Howard is often denigrated by the LLL as being nothing more than "a suburban solicitor" (note: a solicitor in this country is not a hooker - he is a lawyer).
The slur is like the slur against GWB being nothing more than an Ivy League Graduate and a self made millionare - (I wish I was as dumb as him - and as rich). But both Howard and GWB can't intellectualise and conceptualise because they are not "smart" like university professors you see.

Howard came from quite humble origins and had a protestant christian upbringing. He lived in the next suburb from me (Earlwood), went to the same high school as me (Canterbury Boys' High) and graduated in law from the same university as me (Sydney University) - and I ended up "a suburban solicitor".

The Paul Sheehan article is not typical of the Sydney Morning Herald's usual slop. Think of the SMH more as a downunder NY Times or El Guardian. The media in this country mirrors the US. Most of it is uninformed and/or biased and decidedly anti war (unless it's brown people killing brown people and then it's unfortunate and it's probably the US's fault anyway (insert root causes or moral equivalence line here).

Anyway, great article by Sheehan. Sorry to ramble off topic but it's 2.30 am here and I need some sleep.

Australian fools fear a country which couldn't keep itself together and is falling to pieces. What a lame explanation for helpiing america in its terrorism. Everyonr knows they and everyone supporting Bush is after a shre in the oil.

#79 Moiz

STFU and FOAD
WANKER
Learn to communicate in English before posting your crap here, your spelling is atrocious. Come back when you've learned something about the world in general, and this part of it in particular.
Your blog appears to be a reflection of the space between your ears, it's empty.

Oh yeah 'GAZE'

#78 youcancallmemeyer

and if our ground and airforces didn't clean them up the hostile terrain would do the job for us.

Yeah, you do have all those lovely snakes.

#81 CC Señor

We used to have lots of snakes, but the spiders ate them all.

#8 evariste

The "Allah akbar" was officially removed from the Iraqi flag after the recent liberation.

Thaks for the hat tip Charles. As you said back in February "the Aussies are with us, in battle there are none better."

Wild Justice - I hope to hear from you soon.

God Bless the Aussies... I have a great Aussie friend who leans LLL but I forgive him!
The Aussies and the Kiwis are friends of freedom.