Bush Heckled in Australia as He Defends Iraq War

Bush was in Australia this week touting his War on Terror. He gave a speech to Parliament in
which he defended the Iraqi invasion/occupation and thanked Oz for
being one of the only nations that continues to kiss America's ass. It
turns out that the Aussie Green Party has a whole lot more balls than
the American Democrats. Some of them even had the audacity to speak out against the President.

"Security in the Asia-Pacific region will always depend on
the willingness of nations to take responsibility for their
neighborhood, as Australia is doing," Bush told parliament. Australia
has recently sent a peacekeeping force to the Solomon Islands to
restore law and order. But his tagging of Australia as a regional
"sheriff" and staunch defense of the Iraq war angered left-leaning
Green politicians whose heckling twice stopped the president's speech.
"We are not a sheriff," shouted Greens leader Bob Brown who ignored an
order to leave the house."

But by far the most incisive criticism came from the son of an Australian "Enemy Combatant":

The 18-year-old son of Mamdouh Habib, one of two
Australians held at a U.S. military prison in Cuba for two years
without charge after the Afghan invasion, was dragged out, arms pinned
behind his back, after yelling: "Hey Bush, what about my Dad?"

Imagine that. Here's an 18 year old kid who hasn't even heard from,
much less seen, his father in over two years. Imagine knowing that your
dad has been interred at a concentration camp at Guantanamo with no
recourse to the law and no contact with anyone outside. Now imagine
reading news like this:

The International Committee of the Red Cross joined the
rising criticism of the makeshift prison for terror suspects at
Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, on Friday, citing "worrying deterioration" in
prisoners' mental health. The common criticism of the prisoner program
is that men and boys captured in Afghanistan and elsewhere in the
counterterror war are being held with no legal process and no
indication when they might have access to one. "They have no idea about
their fate, and they have no means of recourse at their disposal
through any legal mechanism," said Florian Westphal of the ICRC, which
ended a visit there Thursday. International rights groups say the
indefinite detentions have likely promoted prisoners' hopelessness and
thus contributed to 32 suicide attempts by 27 detainees.

What a horrible, hopeless situation. Bush, of course, didn't even acknowledge the kid. Instead...

"I love free speech," quipped Bush, to cheers from the house, having been warned he could face politicians' protests.

Funny. This is the same president who cordones off "free speech zones"
for protesters and arrests anyone who dares dissent outside of the
preordained locations.
But I digress...
Much thanks to the Australian Green Party for doing everything that our
own "opposition party" fails to. Keep it up. Maybe one of these days
we'll follow your lead.

Posted by flow Frazao on October 23, 2003 at 09:17 AM | Permalink