Australian PM's comments about Barack Obama

Australian Prime Minister John Howard made a comment about hopeful Democratic candidate Barack Obama and the consequences of what his win would entail on the war on terrorism. Howard argues that Obama's plan to withdraw American troops by March 2008 would inspire al-Qaeda in Iraq to breed more recruits. I couldn't help but to note the absurdity of his comment towards him.

First of all, Howard is wrong that a withdrawal from Iraq would breed more terrorists than what it is currently. The Iraq quagmire has already influenced al-Qaeda to recruit more impressionable people into its fold moreso than prior to the Iraq war. Many intelligence reports, such as this one by BBC News support the assertion that the war on Iraq continues to fuel terror around the world. The 7/7 attacks in London a year and a half ago further attest to the increased terror, especially so since the perpretrators of the atrocity cited the war in Iraq as their motivation for the action.

Second, al-Qaeda has actually endorsed Bush in the 04 elections by stating:

"We are very keen that Bush does not lose the upcoming elections."
The statement said Abu Hafs al-Masri needs what it called Bush's "idiocy and religious fanaticism" because they would "wake up" the Islamic world."We are very keen that Bush does not lose the upcoming elections."

This is quite ironic since it is coming from a pro-Bush news source as so the pro-war camp cannot accuse Fox News of holding a liberal bias now.

And third, Mr. Howard would be furious if a Democrat were to comment about the elections in Australia, so perhaps he should keep his opinions to himself about the Democratic candidates in America.

Finally, Obama said it best about Mr. Howard:

“If he’s ginned up to fight the good fight in Iraq, I would suggest that he calls up another 20,000 Australians and send them to Iraq,” Mr. Obama said. “Otherwise, it’s just a bunch of empty rhetoric.”