Think about life without the US: Armitage

[CShine]

The US Deputy Secretary of State, Richard Armitage, has suggested that Australians imagine living without the American alliance, further increasing Bush Administration pressure on Mark Latham. Mr Armitage said the Labor leader had politicised the alliance in a way that had no precedent in either country since the ANZUS treaty was signed in 1951. In an interview with the Herald in Washington, he said that if Australians believed the alliance did not bring any benefit, then they may want to re-examine it.

"Now, maybe people ought to think what it would be like without this relationship with the United States. How would they fit into Asia? And how would they feel?" Mr Armitage quickly added that he was not proposing an end to the alliance "because no one here in the United States wants to even contemplate the possibility".

He made plain that he thought Mr Latham neither understood nor appreciated the alliance. He also expressed regret that Mr Latham had cancelled his planned trip to Washington this month, saying it might have been an occasion to "get exposure to the length, the breadth, the depth of this relationship".

"I don't think he has a sense that Americans feel very strongly about the relationship. It's personal and it's also professional. And my experience has been that many Australian friends are quite surprised - to find that we care deeply about it."

Mr Armitage accused Mr Latham of politicising the alliance. "I think the alliance since 1951 has been free of partisanship on both sides, and I know from our side, whether it's George Bush, which I fervently hope, or John Kerry, that the view from the United States towards Australia and about the alliance is not going to change. So there's no partisanship about it here. Only on Australia's side."

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/10/1086749842549.html?oneclick=true

[sangh0]

1. He want us to think about anything but

Life without Bush*

[Solly Mack]

2. Well, that was chocked full of racism

"Now, maybe people ought to think what it would be like without this relationship with the United States. How would they fit into Asia?



Say it, Armitage...what you really mean is "white" Australia won't have "white" America if they don't do what you tell them to do.

[PROGRESSIVE1]

4. New Meme from the Left:

"Armitage is a RACSIST"

[Solly Mack]

7. used as a Meme or not...the sentiment behind his words is pure racism.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

28. "How would they fit into Asia.?"

Didn't Austraila "fit into Asia" when the planet had one continent called "Pangia?" (feel free to help the newbie) So - does the "US" as defiend by * think its "God?"

[Solly Mack]

35. Ask Armitage. It's his quote

Cause I want to know too....

[AussieInCA]

3. this crap is really going to pissa lot of aussies off

so STFU armitage...maybe you should go back and clean up CACI the torture corporation you used to work at.

5. wonder what Christopher Boyce thinks of this?

I seem to recall he started down his path related to some shenanigans in Australia. At least that't the way they make it look in the movie.

[rooboy]

8. I've been thinking this very thing in recent weeks...

One wonders whether the shadowy figures in the US govt will ever let Latham become PM.

[canetoad]

14. Don't discount the Aussie people

...or underestimate the undercurrent of disgust at a)the performance of the Bush admin or b)threats and meddling in our country's politics.

I think we have not yet gone too far down the path of complete compliance to see this for what it really is and show at the ballot (paper, of course)that these bullies cannot intimidate our country.

[newyawker99]

30. Hi canetoad!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[northofdenali]

32. Since I read the SMH and the Age daily, especially the

LTTE sections, I have to admit that my respect for the Australian people remains strong despite Howard.

I hope things work out for your wonderful country, mate. :hi: Welcome to DU!

[htuttle]

18. It might not be the first time that has happened

Whatever happened to Harold Holt?

:shrug:

[rooboy]

22. Holt got picked up by a Chinese submarine. n/t

[rooboy]

6. Does this idiot really think that threats will win votes for Howard? n/t

[Spazito]

9. There is more to this than the simple withdrawal of troops...

given the kind of threats and interference by top bush admin, there is something big that will affect the US if Latham is elected. Is there something based in Australia that the bush admin is terrified will be affected by Latham?

[pinto]

23. may be just the reverse. Armitage knows something, obviously, in his

position. I think he's referring to the "umbrella"...

and, I speak softly so as not to be accused of tinfoil time

there is always the possibility of a US pre emptive strike against North Korea. Wolfowitz and Perle seem all fired up about the possibility, and they have been influential in matters of pre emption...

[xxqqqzme]

10. Uncle Fester accuses Latham of

politicizing???!!!??? What, pray tell, is he doing? The US only cares when it wants something from down under.

[The Stranger]

11. Think about life without Armitage: U.S.

[struggle4progress]

12. "We don't see you as deputy sheriff. We see you as a puppet."

[Joanne98]

13. FU Armitage

Go back to your, "killing for fun and profit" job. Bushco acts like they own the US.

[Solly Mack]

15. Worse.....they act like they own the world.

[Wright Patman]

16. Armitage's

main relationship with Asia through the years was handling the financial end of heroin trafficking with Golden Triangle warlord Khun Sa and others in the trade--often using Australian banks.

http://www.geocities.com/larryjodaniel/16.html

[Shakespeare]

17. Breathtakingly arrogant.

Careful, Armitage you shithead--say idiotic things like that, and the rest of the world might just decide to band together and find out.

[DerekGD]

19. These assholes can't seem to understand how hated

they are around the world. Do they take stupid pills every morning?

[fob]

20. Apologies to Mr Latham. You see our "leader" has politicized

every fucking thing imagineable in a way that had no precedent in either country since the ANUS* was selected December 12, 2000.

[reprobate]

21. Oh yes, Mr Armitage. Americans feel so strongly about australia......

....that the cia actually overthrew the Whitlam government in 1975. And just to make us feel at home, they used the same techniques that the * gov't uses: massive lie campaigns and massive money infusions to buy the right people off so that cia purposes were put forward, while the wants of the australian people were ignored. But that's the way america works.

And please tell us, Mr A, did this have anything to do with Pine Gap, the cia and nsa run spy satellite communications base near Alice Springs?

I'm beginning to wonder if there are any countries where the cia has NOT overthrown a gov't. Seems to me that if they had spent as much time gathering intelligence as they have fomenting coups, 9/11 would never have happened.

I believe that the time for change is approaching rapidly.

[gratuitous]

24. Armitage?

Our government man on the board of CACI, torturers for hire?

Hey Richard, envision life in prison for crimes against humanity.

[Mokito]

25. Edited: Double post

[Mokito]

26. How large is Australia's role in the coalition of the coerced exactly?

Could they be afraid that with a possible withdrawal of Australian troops another leg of their throne will be kicked from under it? Are they fearing an imminent implosion of their coalition when this happens? I mean, these bastards were vile when the prospect of Spain removing itself from the coalition came into sight, but the venom spewed by Armitage toward the Australian opposition does indeed sound so much more...desperate.

[Yerta Bulti]

36. about 850, going up to 1000 I think

here's a list of the coalition forces:

http://www.geocities.com/pwhce/willing.html

Australia mostly looks after Baghdad airport, has limited forces on the streets and has troops protecting diplomatic facilities. It's a shade higher than a token force, only a shade.

The issue shits me. I don't think much of Lathams "home by Christmas" policy - It feels like populism that is now drifting towards brinksmanship. Australia was part of the invasion, which sucked enough. To pull out and take no responsibility for reconstruction is just flaky IMHO.

That said, Armitage and the rest of bushco can go fuck a duck and stay out of my backyard. But then the more shit bushco throw at Latham the more Australians resent it and the more votes go Lathams way. Maybe he knows what he is doing, but I have this feeling that Latham could have made moves to assert Australian independence and sure, question ANZUS without resorting to rhetoric about "home by Christmas" which is an interference with what is going on in Iraq for the purposes of electioneering. Of course, the drift towards brinksmanship is being pushed along by Howard and whoever in Washington he can recruit to his cause. Latham himself has made a number of statements along the lines of "The US-Australia alliance is much bigger than Iraq."

Now, since Bush and Armitage and Powell have taken the time out of their day to make threats to an ally, I'm much more of a mind to support Latham going through with it and see where the chips fall. Should be a fun election year.

[frylock]

27. fuck you DICK! take your ball and go home..

[charlyvi]

29. I love my country dearly

But what in hell is so good about us lately under the * regime? If the Aussies are as independent minded and proud as I think they are, they would tell us to go to hell. What would the US do without the Aussies?

[Yerta Bulti]

31. good response from the same paper

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2004/06/10/1086749840015.html

The truth is that the alliance is only a framework. It commits neither partner to do anything for the other in the event of attack. Howard has said that ANZUS is Australia's ultimate security guarantee. But it is no guarantee. Indeed, on the only occasion when Australia formally sought to invoke it, when Australia faced Indonesian troops on the Malay Peninsula in 1964, the US refused.

[struggle4progress]

33. Latham silent on Armitage attack

LABOR Leader Mark Latham today said he would not be drawn into a debate on American policies following attacks from senior US politicians.

US Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage last night said Labor's plan to pull Australian troops out of Iraq by Christmas was unthinkable.
<snip>

Mr Latham today said Labor supported the American alliance, but said from time to time there there was bound to be disagreements, and the Iraq war was one of them.

However, the Labor leader also said he would consider leaving troops in Iraq to protect diplomats.
<snip>

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,9811103%5E1702,00.html

[Zhade]

34. "Nice country you got here, Latham. Shame if something happened to it."

Spoken like the mafiosi fuck he is.

[arwalden]

37. What An Embarrassing Pack Of Criminal Punks We Have In Charge

-- Allen

[bacchant]

38. Latham answer to Armitage

Yeah Dick, we're not only thinking about life without the US, we're fucking DREAMING about it!

[Bhaisahab]

39. self delete eom

[Hobarticus]

40. Think about a world without Armitage...

Ahhhh...that's nice.

How much more arrogant can you get?

[aneerkoinos]

41. hmm

Thinking about it. Liking the thought. Yep, liking it very much.