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Defence Minister speaks drivel

Tony Jones interviewed Defence Minister Brendon Nelson on ABC TV's Lateline last night. To listen to Nelson defend his PM in relation to the "attack" Howard has made on the Democratic Party presidential hopeful, Barack Obana, was pathetic - and pure drivel.

Read the transcript here. But look out for this telling question and Nelson's evasion in answering the valid point made by Jones:

TONY JONES: Well, as I understand it, the Obama plan is actually based on the phased withdrawal idea that was actually put forward by the Iraq Study Group, which, of course, was led by the former Republican Secretary of State, James A. Baker. His interests and those of terrorists aren't coincident, are they?

BRENDAN NELSON: There are two things. Firstly, the Baker-Hamilton Study Group, amongst other things, emphasised that if America leaves Iraq prematurely it would be catastrophic for the Iraqis, the region and indeed the global struggle against terrorism. As I also understand it, Senator Obama's so called plan does not give credence to the conditions under which withdrawal occurs, that instead it sets, if you like, artificial deadlines and timelines.

TONY JONES: But aren’t those deadlines and timelines exactly the same as the key recommendations of the Iraq Study Group's, which we'll just remind ourselves, was a phased withdrawal of 15 US combat brigades, about 70,000 US troops, starting this year and ending in the first quarter of 2008?

BRENDAN NELSON: You need to remember a couple of things Tony. Firstly, that the recommendations of the Baker Hamilton Study Group have been quite studiously-considered by the US administration, by the US military and a variety of others, and an outcome has been delivered. It's also important to recognise, and any of us watching news bulletins or reading newspapers on any day of the week know only too well that over the last month or six weeks the insurgents and the terrorists have inspired this sectarian violence, going back to the bombing of the Askariya shrine early last year in Samarra, those people have escalated their activities to do everything they can to frustrate what is about to happen. What is important

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