Independent UK: Another skittle of the old order falls (Australia's Howard)

Leading article: Another skittle of the old order falls
Published: 25 November 2007


That is that. The end. This time, it is the end for John Howard. It is all over for another leader identified with the invasion of Iraq. Jose Maria Aznar of Spain was voted out in 2004; Silvio Berlusconi of Italy fell last year; Tony Blair was forced out by his own party earlier this year; Jaroslaw Kaczynski of Poland lost last month; only George Bush, the prime mover, is left, and as he sets records for unpopularity he is a much reduced figure, limping to his expiry date in 2009.

Mr Howard, the four-time winner, has finally been defeated, with the added humiliation of almost certainly losing his own seat. Australia has for the first time anywhere in the world – one of those rare facts not easily checked on Google – a prime minister called Kevin.

We do not want to ascribe too much importance to Iraq. It was not the dominant issue of the election campaign. Mr Howard has, like Mr Bush and Mr Blair, been re-elected once since the Iraq war. And in Britain and the US, the new faces do not represent an unequivocal repudiation of past policy. Gordon Brown has rebalanced our Government's rhetoric in a welcome fashion, but he is bound by the collective decision to join the invasion. The front-runner to succeed Mr Bush, Hillary Clinton, is equally bound by her support for it at the time; the war's most clearly defined opponent, Barack Obama, has a long way to go to win the Democratic nomination, let alone the presidency.

However, Mr Howard's defeat in Australia is undoubtedly part of the slow unwinding of the failed worldview that was the mistaken response to the horror of 9/11. As the leaders who promulgated that view leave the stage, the world has the chance to rebalance both the rhetoric and the rules. ..........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://comment.independent.co.uk/leading_articles/article3193990.ece

yes INDEED :D

but I don't expect his campaign to set the record straight on this account. perhaps the candidates who are more opposed will, however.
Those candidates will not include H. Clinton for sure.

Msongs