Wednesday, October 13, 2004
The difference three days and an election result make to the New York Times.
I open my morning paper and what do I read?...
WAR IN IRAQ PLAYS A ROLE IN ELECTIONS IN AUSTRALIA
By Raymond Bonner
Gladesville, Australia. Thursday, October 7 --
On the eve of the Iraq war, Andrew Wilkie resigned from Australia's senior intelligence agency and declared that Iraq did not pose an immediate threat and that there was no concrete evidence linking Saddam Hussein to Al Qaeda.
Mr. Wilkie was largely ignored, and Australia went to war alongside the United States and Britain. Today, Mr. Wilkie has joined the debate over Australia's role in the war. As part of a national election to be held Saturday, Mr. Wilkie has taken on Prime Minister John Howard, leader of the conservative Liberal Party...
The latest polls give [Howard's] Liberals a slight lead, but in many respects it is surprising that the race is close at all. The Australian economy is in its 13th year of growth...
Opponents of the Iraq war got a lift in August when 43 retired senior military commanders and senior diplomats issued a public statement saying that Australia went to war "on the basis of false assumptions and the deception of the Australian people"...
Three days later...
AUSTRALIANS RE-ELECT HOWARD AS PRIME MINISTER
By Raymond Bonner
Sydney, Australia. Sunday, October 10 -
... the voting was not a referendum on the war. The main issue was the economy, and that is booming ...
Never mind.
