Rudd won't go soft on terror

[Mark Stapleton]

Because Rupert Murdoch would have his guts for garters if he ever did. In response to the blasts in Jakarta, Rudd says we must 'stay the fight in Afghanistan to prevent further terrorist attacks'. Nice thinking Kev (you imbecile):



http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/sto...02,00.html


Article from: The Australian
KEVIN Rudd has vowed to stay the fight in Afghanistan to prevent further terrorist attacks like the blasts that ripped through two Jakarta hotels, after the 11th Australian soldier was killed in the war-torn country.

Private Benjamin Ranaudo, 22, was killed by an anti-personnel explosive device during an operation on foot against a "compound of interest" on Saturday.

Family and close friends yesterday expressed their grief for the adventurous and baby-faced digger, while his girlfriend said she had lost a piece of her soul.

A second Australian Digger was seriously wounded in the attack, north of Tarin Kowt, in the Baluchi Valley, while three Afghans, including an eight-year-old boy, suffered less serious injuries.

The Prime Minister said the bombings of the Ritz-Carlton and Marriott hotels in Jakarta were reminders of why the nation was committed to the fight in Afghanistan. "It's important for us all to remember here in Australia that Afghanistan has been a training ground for terrorists worldwide," Mr Rudd said.

"It is in our long-term interest that we remain absolutely rock-solid in our commitment there."

Speaking outside church, Mr Rudd said Private Ranaudo, a member of the Townsville-based 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment, had paid the ultimate price for his country.

"Our thoughts and our prayers are with his partner, family, friends, and of course his comrades - those here at home and those still in the field in Afghanistan," he said.

Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston said Private Ranaudo, who was part of the mentoring and reconstruction taskforce in Afghanistan, was a "brave and dedicated" soldier who was "operationally experienced and highly skilled".

"Private Benjamin Ranaudo was a very professional soldier who served enthusiastically and with distinction," he said.

"His career record speaks to a young man, very well trained, with an extraordinary array of completed courses."

During his three years in the army, Private Ranaudo had also served in East Timor.

Air Chief Marshal Houston said Afghanistan had been a breeding ground for terrorists linked to the Bali bombings and other major attacks. "It's vitally important that we continue to stay the fight," he said. "There's absolutely no doubt that if we were to walk away from Afghanistan and leave it to the Taliban again, it would be almost certain that al-Qa'ida and other terrorist groups would set themselves up."

He said that despite the setback, progress was being made to train the Afghan army and police to take command of security.

As preparations were under way to return Private Ranaudo's body to Australia, family and friends poured out their hearts on Facebook. Girlfriend Haylee Tamara McCarthy, 21, said she had lost a piece of her soul. "I really thought we were going to be together forever," she wrote. "Just want you to know that you were it, no one can replace you."

Sisters Amy and Hayley-Rose paid tribute to their brave, strong and inspiring brother. And, thanking well-wishers for their support, his mother wrote: "Gone but not forgotten. love always mum x0x."

Photos on the site revealed a popular and adventurous man, partying with his friends and playing pool.

Malcolm Turnbull said the opposition was deeply saddened by the death.

"This tragedy reminds us all of the enormous dangers our forces face in Afghanistan every day, not least from the ever-present threat of improvised explosive devices," the Opposition Leader said. "The thoughts and prayers of all Australians will be with his family.

The wounded soldier was stable after surgery. He was due to be moved from Tarin Kowt to a medical facility in Kandahar, before heading to Germany.

Defence Minister John Faulkner warned that fighting in Afghanistan would become more fierce as the summer progressed.

[Magda Hassan]

There is no logic in the 'War against Terrorism' TM [size=12]It is an exercise in accounts management for the wealthy and makes perfect sense to them but for ordinary people here or there it is just a terrible waste of humanity.

P.S. That is very 'un-Australian' of you to criticise our little mate Kevin 07 like that. :tee:

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[Mark Stapleton]

There is no logic in the 'War against Terrorism' TM [size=12]It is an exercise in accounts management for the wealthy and makes perfect sense to them but for ordinary people here or there it is just a terrible waste of humanity.

P.S. That is very 'un-Australian' of you to criticise our little mate Kevin 07 like that. :tee:

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I know. I should've given him both barrels.:aetsch:


The tired and quite absurd argument that we need to be over there to 'fight terror' is beneath contempt. The idea that we can fight terror by becoming terrorists ourselves (well over 100 civilians killed in the last two known US drone attacks) is as insulting as Lyndon Johnson claiming (repeatedly) in his infamous 1964 Gulf of Tonkin address that 'our mission is peace'.


I say the front line soldiers in this phony war should be the children of the Congressmen who support it, as well as the children of the weapons manufacturers, hawkish media barons and armchair warrior journalists. Let's see these fucking cowards put their money where their mouth is.

[Magda Hassan]

I say the front line soldiers in this phony war should be the children of the Congressmen who support it, as well as the children of the weapons manufacturers, hawkish media barons and armchair warrior journalists. Let's see these fucking cowards put their money where their mouth is.

I'd vote for that. That will do it and to take the profit (and prophet) out of war. Make 'them' pay with their cold hard cash up front and 100% tax on any profits and see how many want to to do it then and with their own children as cannon fodder on the front line on the ground mano a mano, face to face with the 'enemy'. None of this drone business from 15,000 km away in front of a monitor. I do believe that was Smedley Butler's solution to war. Or peace depending on which way you like to see it. :fight:

[Magda Hassan]

I heard on the radio that the NZ PM is doing the same thing as Kevin 07. "New Zealanders are all over the world and we are not immune to terrorism. One of our nationals was killed in Jakarta therefore we must go and kill Afghanis. We will reconsider our troop withdrawl from Afghanistan and consider increasing our troop numbers there. Blah, blah, blah." These guys have been spending too much time in lawyer and business schools and not enough time in the philosophy department and their lack of education is showing. He even made reference to NZ being a first world nation :willy:

[Peter Presland]

I recently finished reading 'Secret Power' by Nicky Hager. It is a brief history of the incorporation of NZ into the Anglo-American post WWII Secret Intelligence world. In particular its integration into the Echellon Worldwide communications intercept system. It's avilable as a pdf here.

One of the most startling things about the book is a foreword by David Lange who was NZ Prime Minister for some of the period covered; as in:

We even went the length of building a satellite station at Waihopai. But it was not until I read this book that I had any idea that we had been committed to an international integrated electronic network. It was with some apprehension that I learned that Nicky Hager was researching the activity of our intelligence community. He has long been a pain in the establishment"s neck. Unfortunately for the establishment, he is engaging, thorough, unthreatening, with a dangerously ingenuous appearance, and an astonishing number of people have told him things that I, as Prime Minister in charge of the intelligence services, was never told.

The book was first published in 1996 but is nonetheless mightily revealing of the methods employed by the US/UK SIS's to keep junior members of the system on board.

The book also covers the 'Rainbow Warrior' sinking in Aukland harbour and the parliamentary decision to declare NZ nuclear free. Counter-intuitively, both issues became useful tools in further misleading both NZ politicians and the public about intelligence matters generally. In a nutshell, their beliefs and behaviour was (and remains) analagous to innocent, credulous but trusting children being cynically moulded by deceptive and grossly manipulative parents. Seems to me that people like Rudd and Key just make the job that much easier, that's all.

[Magda Hassan]

Thanks for that link Peter. It is true that the local leaders have little idea of what is really going on. Look what happened to Whitlam when he wanted to be independent of the US Anglo establishment.

[Mark Stapleton]

Look what happened to Whitlam when he wanted to be independent of the US Anglo establishment.

Gough had a little falling out with the Zionist lobby, too:


http://www.jcpa.org/JCPA/Templates/ShowP..._Relations


I always wondered why the media crucified him with such relish.