Coalition of the Willing to Do Anything For Bush

Get your news from a source that’s not owned and controlled by oligarchs. Sign up for the free Mother Jones Daily.


Looks like the Republicans are now pulling the coalition of the willing up onto their bully pulpit. But Australian Prime Minister John Howard’s shot at Obama this weekend just may backfire, as it immediately put the Senator on the international stage sparring with a head of state, plus, it keeps the war and its toll in sharp focus.

To refresh, Howard theorized that if he “were running al Qaeda in Iraq,” (now that would be something to talk about) “I would put a circle around March 2008 and be praying for a victory, not only for Obama, but also for the Democrats.”

This in response to Obama’s proposal that the U.S. pull out all troops by the end of next March. “I think that will just encourage those who want to completely destabilize and destroy Iraq, and create chaos and a victory for the terrorists to hang on and hope for an Obama victory.”

Obama, not one to back down, responded asking if Howard were to send another 20,000 of his own troops over to Iraq (the country has 1,400 there now), then they could talk. Until then, “it’s just empty rhetoric.”

This is not the first time that we have heard this chorus, that our enemies will be emboldened with Democrats in power, but to have a foreign head of state slam the Dems? It’s a bit like someone outside your family talking smack about your mom, even Republicans are telling Howard to keep his mouth shout. Me, I’m going to go ahead and circle March 2008 so I look out for the chaos and instability that Howard predicts is in Iraq’s future.

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

BEFORE YOU CLICK AWAY!

“Lying.” “Disgusting.” “Scum.” “Slime.” “Corrupt.” “Enemy of the people.” Donald Trump has always made clear what he thinks of journalists. And it’s plain now that his administration intends to do everything it can to stop journalists from reporting things they don’t like—which is most things that are true.

No one gets to tell Mother Jones what to publish or not publish, because no one owns our fiercely independent newsroom. But that also means we need to directly raise the resources it takes to keep our journalism alive. There’s only one way for that to happen, and it’s readers like you stepping up. Please help with a donation today if you can—even a few bucks will make a real difference. A monthly gift would be incredible.

payment methods

We Recommend

Latest

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the Mother Jones Daily to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

Get our award-winning magazine

Save big on a full year of investigations, ideas, and insights.

Subscribe

Support our journalism

Help Mother Jones' reporters dig deep with a tax-deductible donation.

Donate