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| Home Front: Politix |
| Howard on terrorism |
| 2006-05-18 |
| Excerpt: "It was a real privilege to sit around the Cabinet table and talk to your Cabinet officers, which followed a very extensive discussion between the two of us about all of those issues of which you spoke. We remain a steadfast ally of the United States in the war against terror. I've made that clear on every occasion I've spoken here in the United States. The war against terror will go on for a long time. I think we have to accept that. Progress is being made. But the challenge remains very, very strong. And there needs to be a continued commitment. And we admire and respect the leadership given by you and by the United States in that war, and it's a war that confronts us all. Those who imagine that somehow or other you can escape it by rolling yourself into a little ball and going over in the corner and hoping that you're not going to be noticed are doomed to be very, very uncomfortably disappointed. We did have an opportunity to talk extensively about some of the challenges in our immediate region. I spoke about the situation in East Timor and the Solomon Islands, and the importance of the role of Indonesia, the symbolism and also the tactical consequence of Indonesia being the largest Islamic country in the world. HOWARD: And, therefore, the success and prosperity of moderate Islamic leadership in that country is itself a very important factor in the long term success of the fight against terrorism. Because the fight against terrorism is not only a military and physical one; it is also an intellectual one. And it's a question of providing within the Islamic world a successful democratic model as an alternative to the fanaticism of those who would obscenely invoke the sanction of Islam to justify what they seek to do. Can I finally say that of the many ties that bind Australia and the United States, as I said on the lawn earlier today, none are more important, of course, than the shared values and the belief that both of our countries have that the spread of democracy around the world is an important goal and an important responsibility? It's been a privilege for our two peoples to enjoy democracy in an uninterrupted fashion for so long that we tend to take it for granted. |
| Posted by:tipper |
| #1 Those who imagine that somehow or other you can escape it by rolling yourself into a little ball and going over in the corner and hoping that you're not going to be noticed are doomed to be very, very uncomfortably disappointed. Telling it like it is. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2006-05-18 10:00 |