A Mortar kills a family of seven in Baghdad. Rudd, answering to a completely different agenda, demands Australian troops come home immediately.
The nuclear debate and Iraq are not the same issue, but they both highlight the inadequacy of the Australian Federal opposition. The ALP policy vacuum is a threat to decent governance, even though they are not in federal government. Reactionary politics, of the type that has Rudd demanding ‘an explanation’ from a federal minister overseas on mission is a case in point. Rudd must have a question, perhaps he can ask it before demanding the return of the minister. Meanwhile, in Baghdad, it is the presence of allied troops that serves to provide security such that the mortar incident is not more common.
Akerman's view here
http://blogs.news.com.au/dailytelegraph/piersakerman/index.php/dailytelegraph/comments/rudds_logic_is_flawed/
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Mortar kills seven family members in Baghdad
From correspondents in Iraq
A MORTRAR has killed seven members of the same family in central Baghdad today as they slept on their roof, an interior ministry source said.
Two neighbours were also wounded in the attack in the mostly Sunni neighbourhood of Fadhil in central Baghdad, the ministry source said.
Fadhil, which borders several Shi'ite districts, had been relatively quiet in recent weeks. But a resident who lives near the area said clashes broke out after the attack.
The fighting died down after about 30 minutes, although sporadic firing could still be heard, the resident said.
Sleeping on the roof is common in Iraq, as frequent electricity blackouts prevent air-conditioning from functioning and summer temperatures often remain well above 40 degrees Celsius even at night.
US and Iraqi forces have launched a major security clampdown in and around the capital to stem sectarian violence between majority Shi'ite and minority Sunni Arabs that has pushed Iraq to the brink of civil war.
Terror issue no threat to Kevin Rudd, says Labor
from news.com.au
THE terror scare is not a liability to federal Labor leader Kevin Rudd in an election year, Opposition Treasury spokesman Wayne Swan has said.
Mr Swan today played down Australian links to the UK terror plot favouring the coalition Government ahead of the federal election.
"I don't think it matters how it plays out politically, what's important here is the national interest," he told Network Ten.
"The national interest is that we must fight the fundamentalist terror and that we must track down the terrorists.
"I don't think anyone doubts Kevin Rudd's commitment to do that or his national security credentials."
Mr Swan also said combining phased withdrawal of foreign troops with a political solution was the only answer to ending the Iraq war.
"What we do know is that instability in the region and instability in Iraq has pushed up petrol prices,' he said.
"A phased withdrawal in Iraq and a political solution is the only long-term solution at every level, both economic and in terms of security and socially."
I'll bring our boys home from Iraq, says Clinton
from news.com.au From correspondents in Cleveland
HILLARY Clinton yesterday admitted she wants to make history by becoming the first female president of the United States but said it was wrong for people to think that was her primary motivation.
"I'm not running because I'm a woman," Ms Clinton told a crowd of about 1000 union steelworkers at a United Steelworkers of America forum in Ohio.
"I'm running because I'm the best qualified and experienced person."
Ms Clinton was the fourth Democratic presidential candidate to speak during the two-day forum.
Senator Joe Biden, former senator John Edwards and Congressman Dennis Kucinich addressed the group on Friday.
Ms Clinton, considered the frontrunner for the Democratic nomination, spoke on the need for universal healthcare, a withdrawal from Iraq, more jobs and union-friendly policies.
She said Iraq war veterans who suffered mental or physical injuries deserved health care for life. She also pledged to end the war.
"If George Bush will not bring our troops home, then I will," she said, before leaving to address festival-goers in New Orleans.
In Des Moines, Iowa, Ms Clinton's Democratic presidential rival Barack Obama urged Americans not to "restore a Clinton political dynasty".
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