Amid tight security, Prime Minister John Howard paid a surprise visit yesterday to Australian troops in Iraq for an emotion-charged dawn service honoring soldiers who fought and died in an ill-fated World War I campaign.
Wearing camouflaged body armor with the word "Howard" handwritten on the front and with his suit jacket draped over his arm, the prime minister flew into Baghdad in a military Hercules transport plane for the service, which was attended by the commander of coalition ground forces, US General Ricardo Sanchez.
In video images released by Australia's Defense Department, Howard looked relaxed as heavily armed troops greeted his plane and ushered him into a waiting car that whisked him to the airport's air traffic control center.
PHOTO: AFP
Howard said afterward he had never before heard the sound of automatic gunfire crackling in the background during a service on Anzac Day, which commemorates troops who fought with the Australia New Zealand Army Corps in World War I's Gallipoli campaign.
"Well, it's certainly the most moving Anzac Day dawn service I've been to in many respects," he said. "There's an immediacy about this."
He brushed off the danger of his trip into the heart of the war-torn nation, saying Australian forces were at far more peril.
"They take enormous risk; it's a small risk I take," he said.
Earlier, Howard's office released a statement saying the visit was ``in recognition of the great sacrifice and contribution Australian personnel are making there in challenging conditions.''
While the visit was officially to boost morale of Australia's troops, it also will likely be seen as an attempt to bolster Howard's chances of victory at elections due by late this year in which his conservative coalition is seeking a fourth term.
Labor leader Mark Latham, who opposed sending troops to Iraq and vowed to bring them back if he win elections, would not be drawn into a discussion of the visit.
"Anzac Day should be above politics so I hope he has a safe visit there and back," Latham said. "They've got our support, we always support our troops. Our argument is with government policy."
A total of 1 million men fought in the nine-month, British-led Gallipoli campaign Anzac Day commemorates. The Allies recorded 55,000 killed, 10,000 missing and 21,000 dead of disease. Turkish casualties were about 250,000.
KINGPIN: Marset allegedly laundered the proceeds of his drug enterprise by purchasing and sponsoring professional soccer teams and even put himself in the starting lineups Notorious Latin American narco trafficker Sebastian Marset, who eluded police for years, was handed over to US authorities after his arrest on Friday in Bolivia. Marset, a Uruguayan national who was on the US most-wanted list, was passed to agents of the US Drug Enforcement Administration at Santa Cruz airport in Bolivia, then put on a US airplane, Bolivian state television showed. “The arrest and deportation were carried out pursuant to a court order issued by the US justice system,” Bolivian Minister of Government Marco Antonio Oviedo told reporters. The alleged kingpin was arrested in an upscale neighborhood of Santa
FAKE NEWS? ‘When the government demands the press become a state mouthpiece under the threat of punishment, something has gone very wrong,’ a civic group said The top US broadcast regulator on Saturday threatened media outlets over negative coverage of the Middle East war, after US President Donald Trump slammed critical headlines from the “Fake News Media.” The US president since his first term has derided mainstream media as “fake news” and has sued major outlets over what he sees as unfair coverage. Brendan Carr, head of the US Federal Communications Commission — which oversees the nation’s radio, television and Internet media — said broadcasters risked losing their licenses over news coverage. “The law is clear. Broadcasters must operate in the public interest, and they will
SCANDAL: Other images discovered earlier show Andrew bent over a female and lying across the laps of a number of women, while Mandelson is pictured in his underpants A photograph of former British prince Andrew and veteran politician Peter Mandelson sitting in bathrobes alongside late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was unearthed on Friday in previously published documents. The image is believed to be the first known photograph of the two men with Epstein. They are currently engulfed in scandal in the UK over their ties to their mutual friend. The undated photograph, first reported by ITV News, shows King Charles III’s disgraced brother and former British ambassador to the US sitting barefoot outside on a wooden deck. They appear to have mugs with a US flag on them
NASA on Thursday said that the long-delayed launch of Artemis 2, the first crewed flyby mission to the moon in more than 50 years, could come as soon as April 1. “We are on track for a launch as early as April 1, and we are working toward that date,” Lori Glaze, a senior NASA official, told a news conference, after technical difficulties delayed a launch originally expected last month. “It’s a test flight, and it is not without risk, but our team and our hardware are ready,” she said. “Just keep in mind we still have work” to do. The US space
RSS