The Age [Australia], March 10 2003
Howard links Iraq war to Bali
By Phillip Hudson, Political Correspondent, Auckland
Prime Minister John Howard has spoken of the potential for Australian casualties in a
war against Iraq, saying people should remember the Bali massacre if Australians are
sent into battle.
Asked last night how he would "explain the first body bag" in the case of war, Mr
Howard said: "I think the Australian people will understand that if we are ever engaged
in military conflict that casualties could occur, but casualties can occur in the most
benign of circumstances.
"We lost 88 Australians in Bali because of the wilful act of international terrorism, and
we all had to grapple with that.
"I will... be asking the Australian people to bear those circumstances in mind if we
become involved in military conflict in Iraq."
The prospect of war has moved closer, with US President George Bush spending the
weekend urging world leaders to support a United Nations resolution giving Iraq until
March 17 to disarm.
The US is likely to call for a vote on that resolution as early as Wednesday morning
Australian time.
Mr Howard plans to speak at the National Press Club in Canberra on Thursday to
update the nation on a possible war.
In a New Zealand television interview yesterday, Mr Howard said he still held a faint
hope that war could be averted, but insisted the future of the UN rested on it acting
against Iraq. "If the Security Council doesn't pass the resolution I think it will have
failed a test. If it... allows Iraq to get off the hook about disarming, it's going to
seriously damage its credibility," he said.
Earlier, Mr Howard said he faced a "much tougher" decision on involvement in a war
than former prime minister Bob Hawke, who committed troops in 1991 when Iraq
invaded Kuwait.
"In 1991 you had a conventional case of one country invading another," he said. "Now
we are living in a completely different world where the real threat of the 21st century is
international terrorism made worse by the possibility that the terrorists can get hold of
chemical and biological weapons."
His comments came as the US prepared a final diplomatic push to win UN Security
Council backing for a resolution authorising military action against Iraq. Mr Bush
spoke by phone with the leaders of key nations, but French President Jacques
Chirac, who is opposed to the war, is urging the same leaders to vote against it.
According to The Observer in London, the US plans to present Iraqi President
Saddam Hussein with a set of disarmament tasks he must complete to avoid facing
military action.
In another sign that a conflict might be imminent, UN military observers on the
Iraq-Kuwait border said they were withdrawing civilian staff to Kuwait City for their
safety.
As Iraq stepped up fortifications in Baghdad, it destroyed six more of its banned
Al-Samoud 2 missiles.
Mr Bush derided those efforts as a "wilful charade".
- with Caroline Overington
Copyright © 2002 The Age Company Ltd
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