Loose Cannons

Issue 

Bad rap

"Capitalism gets a bad rap these days. Executives are seen as greedy shysters who do anything to make a buck. Companies are perceived as amoral exploiters of the poor, and polluters of the environment." — Chicago Sun-Times, February 23.

Exploited to the grave

"There's going to be no such thing as full-time retirement in future. There's going to be part-time retirement, and part-time work." — Treasurer Peter Costello, February 27.

Exploiting to the grave

"Treasurer Peter Costello has defended the lucrative pension scheme for judges and federal MPs, despite saying other people can't expect taxpayers to fund their retirements." — Brisbane Courier-Mail, February 27.

Only give orders to

"One of [the Haitan rebel] commanders is Louis Jodel Chamberlain, leader of the army death squads before and after the 1991 coup, who is held to be responsible for the death of 5000 men, women and children. He is not, to put it mildly, the kind of man that any American administration would wish to deal with." — London Daily Mail, February 28.

Made an offer he couldn't refuse

"[Haitian President Jean Bertrand Aristide] said to me that he had been abducted from his home by about 20 American soldiers in full battle gear with automatic weapons and put on a plane [to the Central African Republic]." — Randall Robinson, former head of the Washington-based Transafrica group and a friend of Aristide's, March 1.

Coalition of the willing

"The departure of [Haitian] President Aristide was the result of perfect coordination [between the US and French governments]." — French foreign minister Dominique de Villepin, March 1.

From Green Left Weekly, March 10, 2004.
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