"It was one of those excruciating moments in Australian politics." (Honours even as Faulkner soldiers on, Brad Norington, The Australian, 5/11/09)
Oh, you mean like celebrating Israel's 60th birthday in federal parliament last year?
"Defence Minister John Faulkner last night gave US General David Petraeus one of Australia's highest honours, the Order of Australia, for his distinguished service against terrorism in the Iraq war. Only 6 years ago, Senator Faulkner had opposed the war and challenged claims that Iraq posed a terrorist threat. During a censure motion in parliament against the Howard government, he decribed the decision to send 2000 troops as 'unilateral adventurism' and a 'confidence trick'... The nomination for general Petraeus to receive an honorary Order of Australia... came from the Chief of Australia's Defence Force, Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston. But it is understood it had the imprimatur of Kevin Rudd, who opposed the Iraq war as opposition foreign affairs spokesman. John Howard bestowed the same award to General Petraeus' predecessor, General John Abizaid, in March 2007." (ibid)
As Basil Fawlty might say, 'This is typical. Absolutely typical...'
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment