Be alert, not alarmed
Yahoo! News - Terror fears hang over Australian electionSo Richard Clarke, former US presidential adviser says. The article says we're more likely to come under terrorist attack during the election because, like Spain, we have an opposition 'promising' to take our troops out of Iraq if they come to power. The majority of Washington is outspokenly opposed to Latham's plans to withdraw Australian troops, and thus openly favoring Howard's re-election.
It will be interesting to see how the government, or the opposition for that matter, will use this information during the election campaign. John Howard is quoted as saying:
"What I promise the Australian people is two things. Firstly, if there is any hard information that they should have, I will make it available and I will communicate it at the same time to the leader of the opposition."Hopefully that doesn't mean playing on the fears of the public by announcing 'warnings', strategically timed to coincide with, say, the announcement of Labor's fiscal policy.
At the moment there are no public fears to play on. I'm pretty sure Australians think that, while it may have happened in Bali, it could never actually happen here. Let's pray.
the earley edition - Posted by Dave @ 9/01/2004 01:59:00 am || ||
