Loose cannons

Iraqis are immaterial

"You can't leave a vacuum." - US Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry, April 10, arguing against the withdrawal of US troops from Iraq.

Expert advice

"The Vietnamese people have some friendly advice for the United States: Don't make the same mistake twice. Get out of Iraq before it's too late... As a divided America debates whether the US-led Iraq war is 'Bush's Vietnam', opinion in Vietnam is united. What the Vietnamese call the 'American War' was a misguided adventure, and so is the war in Iraq." - San Jose Mercury News, April 18.

Iraqi reconstruction I

"In a significant climbdown by the US, the former Republican Guard general Jasim Mohammed Saleh arrived in Fallujah to take command of 1100 soldiers from the disbanded Iraqi army who live in the city... A US Marine officer said it would not be a problem if those who had been fighting the [US] soldiers joined the new force." - British Independent, May 1.

Iraqi reconstruction II

"This sets a dangerous precedent for the coalition as if/when other cities turn against the occupation they will know if they can beat the siege for long enough they will soon get their own Iraqi army back into their town." - Aljazeera, May 1.

May Day, may day

"Australians are now the hardest workers in the developed world... Australians average 1855 hours of work a year, ahead of the Americans on 1835 hours and the Japanese on 1821, according to official figures... The news is even more surprising when you remember we have the second-highest proportion of part-time workers - 27 per cent - after the Dutch." - Sydney Morning Herald, May 1.

From Green Left Weekly, May 5, 2004.

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From GLW issue 581