Let's stay Down Under for the moment. Doing so will enable us to see that way down there, just as way up here, broadly the same political laws apply to the war formerly known as the 'war on terror', making it something of an international phenomenon. Angus Houston, Chief of the Australian Defence Force, has warned against pulling troops out of Afghanistan too soon. It could lead to a civil war that the Taliban might win; and, as a consequence, return the country to being an open training ground for terrorism. In today's Australian Paul Kelly spells out the logic of the thing at greater length. He says that 'the worldwide threat from state-backed and privatised Islamist violence and terror has not been eclipsed, contrary to repeated claims from multiple Western experts'. He explains why the war in Afghanistan is Kevin Rudd's war. He quotes Rudd himself as follows:
It's important for us all to remember here in Australia that Afghanistan has been a training ground for terrorists worldwide, a training ground also for terrorists in Southeast Asia, reminding us of the reasons that we are in that field of combat and reaffirming our resolve to remain committed to that cause.
What do you know? There's a war on terror going on even now. FKATWOT 25.