WV's wordplay for Tuesday

The text below is taken from a Sydney Morning Herald article regarding John Howard's recent comments about American presidential candidate Obama's plan to withdraw troops from Iraq by 2008. The quoted text is Howard's speech:

Senator Obama's call for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq by March 2008 was also matter of Australia's national security (Howard)

"If I was running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats."

"I do not apologise for criticising Senator Obama's observations because I thought what he said was wrong. If America is defeated in Iraq that will be catastrophic for the West and it will have tremendously adverse consequences for Australia."

"The greatest current threat to the quality of the alliance would be a sense in the United States that Australia had deserted her in her hour of need,"


Well lets have a look here:

Senator Obama's call for a withdrawal of troops from Iraq by March 2008 was also matter of Australia's national security (Howard)

The logic presented by Mr Howard in this sentance seems to be that if American forces were removed from Iraq, the security of the nation of Australia would be put under threat. Would the various groups and forces fighting Australian and American foreign intervention in Iraq, having suceeded in their goal of freeing the country from foreign military intervention, decide it was then time, when the troops are removed, to launch an offensive in a country on the other side of the world? The more likely assumption is that a withdrawl of force would actually lead to a softening in anti-Australian sentiments from the various military organisations ('terrorists' as they are commonly known) causing violence in the middle east. The public rhetoric of organisations such as al-Quaeda support such a conclusion.

"If I was running al-Qaeda in Iraq, I would put a circle around March 2008 and pray, as many times as possible, for a victory not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats."

Al-Qaeda is a military organisation that uses violence to achieve its goals. In this sense, it is similar to the militaries of American and Australia. The difference being that American and Australia are sovereign states and thus assume moral supremacy when they use bombs, tanks and guns to kill people and destroy other sovereign countries in the name of a safer world. There was no al-Qaeda in Iraq before the American and Australian invasion of Iraq. Local resistance by such organisations grew out of a situation of foreign intervention. The country is now entrenched in civil war and there are arguments that if foreign forces withdraw the situation will further deteriorate. But it is questionable if the situation could deteriorate any further. There are daily bombings and people on all sides are being killed every day. A withdrawl of foreign forces could lead to a softening in the killing, as hapenned in Afghanistan. Granted there are still massive problems there, but at least people aren't being killed as they were during the conflict period.

"I do not apologise for criticising Senator Obama's observations because I thought what he said was wrong. If America is defeated in Iraq that will be catastrophic for the West and it will have tremendously adverse consequences for Australia."

Was America's defeat in Vietnam catastrophic for the West? We must remember that the wars being fought between the middle-east and the west are being fought on middle-eastern soil. They are wars were eastern military organisations tied to no particular nation state are fighting the foreign powers of western sovereign states. A defeat for the west in this context would lead to less violence. This is mainly because these are ideological wars, they are fought on the basis of values and religion. They are not geographical wars because the 'terrorist' military organisations have no country to call their home. The wars therefore cannot be won on geographical grounds, as the invasion of Iraq has shown so clearly. The terrorists in Britain were home grown. In this context, continuing to use military force will only fuel the violence. Diplomacy and recognition are thus needed. An avenue not once, not ever, considered by America or Australia in dealing with these military organisations.


"The greatest current threat to the quality of the alliance would be a sense in the United States that Australia had deserted her in her hour of need,"

American parliament in both houses is now ruled by the Democrats. The Democrats initially opposed the Iraq war and are looking to removing troops by 2008. It is hard to see how Australia's alliance with America would be threatened if we choose to pull out troops in the near future as well. Also, It is impossible to imagine that the world's only superpower, who is fighting technological wars it has initiated in countries outside it's borders on the other side of the world, is 'in her hour of need'.