BBC Monitoring Quotes From Australian Press 7 Dec 05
The following is a selection of quotes from editorials and commentaries published in 7 December editions of Australian newspapers available to BBC Monitoring:
“Rendition: isn’t that American for torture?”
Melbourne’s The Age: www.theage.com.au “… US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice yesterday sought to justify rendition on the basis that it has saved lives and taken terrorists out of action. She said the US would `not transport anyone to a country where we believe he will be tortured’, nor itself engage in torture. Given what is known of Guantanamo Bay and abuses at Abu Ghraib prison, Dr Rice’s defence had echoes, in a weasely sort of way, of US claims during the Vietnam of having saved a village by destroying it.” (Editorial) (7)
Australian and US forces in Iraq
Sydney’s The Australian: www.theaustralian.news.com.au “There is a tacit understanding at high political levels in Australia and the US that Australia will make a new commitment to Iraq when its mission supporting Japanese engineers in Al Muthanna province expires in mid-2006…
“A viable Iraqi government post December 15 is a necessary condition for any further Australian commitment…
“[US President George W] Bush offers a sweeping recasting of the nature of the Iraq war from the time of the 2003 intervention. There is a new enemy and Bush quotes al-Qa’idah’s leader in Iraq, Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, that `we fight today in Iraq, and tomorrow in the land of the two holy places, and after there the West’.
“So Australians need to be conscious that Bush sees Iraq as a different war with a new enemy and that this will be the basis of any renewed Australian commitment.” (Paul Kelly) (7)
“Threat of hi-tech terrorism”
Sydney’s The Daily Telegraph: www.dailytelegraph.com.au “Standing behind the counter of his hole-in-the-wall shop, the youth selling mobile phone vouchers looks like any other businessman trying to eke out an existence on the streets of Jakarta. But to Indonesian and Australian counter-terrorist operatives, he represents the new face of a terrorist recruit raising funds for a jihad on westerners in South-East Asia…
“According to intelligence reports, the sale of the pre-paid mobile phone vouchers can earn a humble street stall five million rupiah (700 A dollars) toward a campaign which has up to 14 trained people on standby to act as an istimatas (suicide bomber) at any given time…
“Operation Carlisle agents work closely with Indonesia’s counter- terrorist police, who recently raided a home in Semarang and got one of the biggest breaks in the fight against terrorist for years. They found a video compact disc with speeches of suicide bombers and instructions on how to kill and maim…
“The tape has directed the latest Australian intelligence to conclude terrorists are in `advanced stages’ of planning more attacks against Westerners in Indonesia. `The new information suggests that terrorists may be planning attacks to occur before the end of 2005′, the intelligence states.” (Charles Miranda) (7)
“Taiwan’s political pendulum swings”
The Age: “The Kuomintang is surging back towards primacy in the politics of Taiwan. Perverse though it seems, nobody will welcome this comeback more than the old enemy in Beijing… The Beijing leadership is far more likely to see its interests as better served by awaiting the return to power of people with whom they think they can do business. Yet, for all this, it would be unwise to assume events are leading inexorably towards China prevailing on the Taiwan question. No elected leadership on the island DPP or KMT is ever going to meekly surrender sovereignty according to the Beijing formula.” (Tony Parkinson) (7)