‘Introducing the Human Rights
report, Secretary Rice said, "How a country treats its own people is a
strong indication of how it will behave toward its neighbors. The growing
demand for democratic governance reflects a recognition that the best guarantor
of human rights is a thriving democracy," with rights such as accountable
government and a free press. 

The report, released in
Washington March 8, reviewed human rights achievements and setbacks in some 190
countries and regions around the world. It called the human rights records of
key Arab allies poor or problematic, citing flawed elections and torture of
prisoners in Egypt, beatings, arbitrary arrest and lack of religious freedom in
Saudi Arabia, and floggings as punishment for adultery or drug abuse in the
United Arab Emirates. Iraq's performance was "handicapped" by
insurgency and terrorism that affected every aspect of life, the State
Department said. 

From the ABC ….. 

No
need for ads on the ABC: Labor 

The
Federal Opposition's communications spokesman says the Government should rule
out the introduction of advertising on the ABC.

‘March 20 is the third anniversary of the Bush regime's
invasion of Iraq. US military casualties to date are approximately 20,000
killed, wounded, maimed, and disabled. Iraqi civilian casualties number in the
tens of thousands. Iraq's infrastructure is in ruins. Tens of thousands of
homes have been destroyed. Fallujah, a city of 300,000 people had 36,000 of its
50,000 homes destroyed by the US military. Half of the city's former population
are displaced persons living in tents. 

Thousands of Iraqis have been
detained in prisons and hundreds have been brutally tortured. America's
reputation in the Muslim world is ruined. 

From the ABC ….. 

During the speech,
Mr Bush accused Iran of contributing to the unrest in Iraq, saying some of the
homemade bombs that are wreaking havoc in the country came from Iraq's eastern
neighbour.

First Francis Fukuyama, then Tony
Blair & now, here it is: a soul searching speech from the rodent on Iraq –
as close to a mea culpa as we’re ever likely to get. Maybe he has been taking
too many red ones? 

John Howard's Address To
The Deakin Society 

From the NY Times …..

Hussein Saw Iraqi Unrest as Top Threat

BERNARD E. TRAINOR
MICHAEL R. GORDON
Published: March 12, 2006 

 Reprinted from Halliburton Watch:

WASHINGTON, March 11 (HalliburtonWatch.org) -- Halliburton's KBR
subsidiary may have over-billed the Navy for labor costs during
clean-up work in the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, the Pentagon's
inspector general reported March 3rd. The report said KBR's subcontractors had been billing for
labor at rates "significantly higher" than the prevailing market rate.

Hurricane Ivan came ashore near Gulf Shores, Alabama, on September 16, 2004 as a Category 3 storm.

‘The biggest pitfall in predicting the behaviour of
radical groups like the inner circle of the Bush administration is that you
keep telling yourself that they would never actually do whatever it is they’re
talking about. Surely they must realize that acting like that would cause a
disaster. Then they go right ahead and do it. 

“(The Iranians) must know everything is on the table and
they must understand what that means,” U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
John Bolton told a group of visiting British politicians last week. “We can hit
different points along the line. You only have to take out one part of their
nuclear operation to take the whole thing down.” In other words, he was calmly
proposing an illegal attack on a sovereign state, possibly involving nuclear
weapons.’ 

From
the ABC ….. 

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip have arrived in
Canberra to begin their five-day tour of Australia.

The crowd of several hundred cheered and waved English and
Australian flags as the royal couple stepped out of the plane.

 Should senior members of any Government focused on privatisation be
allowed to make signifigant fincancial gains from their involvement?

It turns out that a company Downer holds shares in made a
killing on the AWB's launch.  Argo investments bought the shares on
their first day out (in 2001) and then sold them for a profit ten days
later.

Downer says that trying to pin him this way is drawing a
long bow.  Maybe he's right, but there are a few particularly pointy
arrows aimed at him.

What if Downer's activities, and those of
the other three current and former Federal Ministers with cash in the
company, create an environment of profitability for Argo to exploit. 
Did Argo also make a killing on the recent Qinetiq float in the UK, thus allowing the ministers to profit on the technologies propogated by the War On Terror.? Or what about a company that reaps rewards from providing support facilities for troop, such as the highly profitable Halliburton?

The US has finally announced the
appointment of its new Ambassador to Australia. 

The announcement was made ahead
of Condi Rice’s upcoming visit, suggesting that the US wanted to avoid any
embarrassment for the Presidential aspirant, given that the post has been
vacant for more than a year. 

And whilst the US was doubtless
more than satisfied with the fawning way John Howard has looked after its
interests in the interim, he would simply never be able to do the job as well
as a real American no matter how hard he tried. 

‘More and more people,
particularly Republicans, disapprove President Bush's
performance, question his character and no longer consider him a strong leader
against terrorism, according to an AP-Ipsos poll documenting one of the
bleakest points of his presidency. 

‘Who are these people? These people who line their pockets
with the lives of our loved ones? These gray men who lurk in shadows and kill
the sunshine of democracy? These people who wear morality like a cheap suit
pilfered from the collection plate of decency? Who are these people who have
turned America into their own personal ATM machine? These are the people of the
lie - Republicans. 

Who are these people? These
people who sit in spineless silence unable to speak in defense of America?
These people who mime the words of our founders, afraid to act with
independence? Who utter the words "We concede," instead of "We
the People?" These are the people who lie down - Democrats.’