| "And if there is one, who cares? What're they gonna do?" |
PRIME Minister John Howard today denied there was a diplomatic rift between Australia and the Philippines, but said there was a difference of opinions.
| "We think they're wieners. They don't agree. Tough, ain't it?" |
The row follows Foreign Minister Alexander Downer's criticism of the Philippines decision to withdraw forces from Iraq to save the life of a Filipino truck driver taken hostage by terrorists. Mr Downer said the move encouraged terrorists.
| "Alex, go kick sand in Gloria's face!" |
"There is no unfortunate rift," Mr Howard told ABC radio in Perth.
| "What's 'unfortunate' about it?" |
| Howard's telling the truth, the rift isn't unfortunate at all. |
"There is a difference about the language used by the Foreign Minister and I support the foreign minister completely in the wake of the Filipino decision to pull their military out from Iraq earlier than they had originally planned."
| "He said they gotta squat to pee. I agree." |
Mr Howard said he had not seen the full transcript of Mr Downer's comments. But he said the point Mr Downer was making was perfectly legitimate. "And I support it and that is that you cannot give in to terrorists. Strip away everything else. That's what it is all about and he made a very valid point," Mr Howard said.
"But... But... If we give them what they want, they'll leave us alone, won't they?"
"What they want is to beat you up!"
"Well... I guess... But not in the face, okay?" |
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