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| "We will control what information you recieve, and the circumsta | |
Bob McMullan doesn't know which foot take out of his mouth first after
tying himself in knots over funding for the coming war with Iraq. He thought he would seize
an opportunity to point out the incompetence of the treasurer in being unable
to keep the Australian budget out of the red in spite of promises to the
contrary. One would think that some $AUD170 odd billion would be enough to fill the
required pork barrels, but there were some unexpected expenses. Having to fund
the Tampa hysteria, and subsequent Pacific Solution, as well as having to fund
unexpected military operations after the collapse of the WTC and the resultant
'deteriorating relations' with the Taliban, stretched the dollar
a bit too far. The credibility of Peter (can you say 'overspending'?) Costello was
stretched too, but not as far a Bob McMullan's. Proclaiming that they wouldn't support a special 'war tax' is a good way to
point out the treasurer's incompetence. Unfortunately this raises the
possibility that any Australian military deaths in Iraq will be blamed on lack
of funding, and therefore on the ALP's unwillingness to actually supply the
troops adequately. If he was up against One
Nation or the Australian
Democrats, Bob could run with this, and be ready to rewrite history when it
happened, but he is taking on a skilled politician who uses
information too effectively, and the government largely controls
the release of sensitive military information. They
say that the first casualty in any war is the truth. Johnny Howard
mightn't go that far, but he might take it prisoner, and soften it up a bit
before the debriefing - then call it a media beat-up. The ALP would
be ambushed, and defeated before they even knew they were under attack. If Bob has any brains he'll oppose the war or open the chequebook -
there is no middle ground. Otherwise he will be cannon fodder for the
government's smart-bombs.
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