A FLAT IN THE ANGLOSPHERE:

Howard's support of US defies public opinion (Barbie Dutter, 08/02/2003, Daily Telegraph)

John Howard, Australia's prime minister, flies to Washington today to confirm his place in the coterie of leaders girding for military action against Iraq.

Mr Howard's stalwart support of American moves to disarm Saddam Hussein has caused uproar in Australia, where three-quarters of the population opposes going to war without United Nations backing. Critics have accused Mr Howard of being President George W Bush's southern hemisphere surrogate, condemning his decision to deploy 2,000 Australian troops to the Gulf without the mandate of parliament, the public or the UN.

Mr Howard has fractiously maintained that he abhors the prospect of war and hopes his whistle-stop tour next week - taking in talks with Mr Bush, the UN secretary-general, Kofi Annan, Tony Blair and President Megawati Sukarnoputri of Indonesia - will be a mission of peace. But he has acknowledged that his pro-US stance on Iraq is a gamble that has already dented his personal standing and could cost his government dearly.

One doesn't expect much from the French or Germans, but somehow one does think better of the Aussies than this. Mr. Howard, like Tony Blair, deserves all the more praise for defying his own electorate. Posted by Orrin Judd at February 8, 2003 9:23 AM