ANZAC DAY

Australian FM defies Osama
Alexander Downer is no Jack Straw. "Downer defies bin Laden," from News.com.au, with thanks to Rosie:

THE latest audiotape by Osama bin Laden only serves to remind the world just how dangerous and fanatical al-Qaeda and its leader were, Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said.
Bin Laden has urged his followers to prepare for a long war against Western would-be occupiers in Sudan's Darfur region, according to the latest audiotape attributed to him.

In the tape, the Saudi-born militant criticises the Sudanese Government for agreeing to a US-backed peace deal for the south of that country.
He also criticises the Palestinians' Hamas-led Government for breaking what he said was a taboo against "joining infidel assemblies" and entering parliament.

But he points to the isolation of Hamas as proof the West is waging war against Islam.
Mr Downer today said the West would not be intimidated by such messages.
"My reaction is a reaction of defiance," Mr Downer said ABC Radio.

"These tapes from Osama bin Laden only reinforce my determination to fight these terrorists.
"It just reminds us all of the dangerous, fanatical people we're dealing with, and the last thing we should show in a circumstance like that is weakness and defeatism.

"This just reminds us that this is a tough fight. This is going on, it's going to continue to go on for a long time to come.

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"The worst thing we should do is show weakness and hesitancy in the face of these kinds of threats."

Breaking the mould-
Appeasement never works with such people (Bin Laden and Co.)and only when the appetite of a fanatical tyrant who would impose his beliefs on others. The words attributed to Bin Laden condone genocide in Sudan's Darfur region and show a Hitlerite will to exterminate all infidels (especially Jews)and even other Moslems.

This whole Jihad-Matrix is very much in the mould of Hitler when it comes to questions of extermination in general and Jews in particular. Make no mistake of it, they are today's Nazis (they even have their version of the Hitler Youth)and only understand force when it is used against them with extreme prejudice.

Thanks to JihadWatch (and others) more and more people are waking up to the danger we face. However, the many Neville Chamberlains of our time in the so-called elites will be the last to see reality-but eventually they too will see.

Aussie war deeds told in Europe

John Hamilton

25apr06

AUSTRALIA is to spend $2.5 million to build two new visitors' centres on World War I's Western Front.

They will explain to a new generation about Australia's role in two great battles in Belgium and France.

Treasurer Peter Costello told the Herald Sun yesterday the centres would be built at Passchendaele and at Villers-Bretonneux.

In 1917, more than 78,000 Australians became casualties in battles such as Bullecourt, Messines and the four-month campaign around Ypres that became known as the Battle of Passchendaele.

The next year the Germans captured the French village of Villers-Bretonneux. Many Australians were killed re-capturing it on Anzac Day.

This weekend, Anzac Day commemoration ceremonies will be held at Villers-Bretonneux and at the nearby Australian National Monument, which has the names of the 11,000 Australians missing in wartime France.

"We want tourists from other countries and young Australians who visit the Western Front to know what Australia actually did in World War I," Mr Costello said yesterday.

He was speaking from his Melbourne office, where he is working on his 11th Budget, now only two weeks away.

"We have rediscovered our Gallipoli history, and I think a lot of young Australians will now move on from that to our history in Flanders field and in France.

"Gallipoli was a military failure, but the Western Front was marked by military successes such as Le Hamel, perhaps our greatest military victory under the Australian command of Sir John Monash -- probably our greatest soldier.

"Even Monash himself came from defeat in Gallipoli to form a corps that broke the German line in 1918, a decisive blow that eventually forced the armistice."
The Treasurer said more money is likely to be allocated in this year's Budget for other Australian memorials overseas.

On Budget preparations he said: "I've done all of the expenditures. Now I'm working on the revenues and then I'm trying to make them add up.
"I was dreaming about it in the middle of last night.

"In my dreams I go through many scenarios . . . we have got some tax relief already . . . but the object is to meet all the expenditures and still balance the budget.

"Things get complicated when something comes in from left field, like the Solomon Islands."