THE VULTURES OF WAR



Having served in an Australian Army Regiment myself for nine years, there is one thing that I know that is inherent in the minds of all Australian soldiers, from combat veterans to weekend warriors, and that is that you must always look after your mate! This simple Aussie philosophy is why we have one of the most successful and respected Defence Forces in the world.

No doubt you have heard the story from the media: Commandos face court over civilian deaths in Afghanistan

And understandably, like most, you are probably fuming because you cannot stand the thought of Australian combat soldiers who are risking all for our and others greater good, being prosecuted for doing what 99.9 percent of us could only imagine doing.

War is hell and in that hell we can only imagine that there would be split second decisions needed to be made in order to not only get the job done successfully but to simply survive the battle. We are all human, including diggers and Generals and because of that we can make errors.

Was there an error made here and if so was there any other option but to fight to save your mates and yourself? Although I was not there and have no idea of exactly what happened and the circumstances leading to the TRAGEDY (only what I have read of course), the ins and outs of the tactical details and the minds of the soldiers under fire and the danger that made up this terrible event, I can count on this simple fact and that is there will always be casualties in a physical conflict such as this the war against the Taliban and Al-Al Quaida in Afghanistan and to the greatest regret of any Australian involved or not, there may well be civilian casualties.

These casualties are never an seen by decent human beings as an acceptable event or "collateral damage" and are not seen this way by our diggers (and I believe those concerned especially) or the ADF.

The one important thing that is being overlooked here, in my opinion, is that if wrong doing was done then it will be exposed by our military legal code and always justly dealt with. This cannot be said for this enemy, who take no pain in using children and woman as human shields (knowing that we are civilised soldiers and follow the civilised conventions of warfare) and it is the enemy that will always profit from any negative propaganda that can be stirred up by such western media attention.

I will stick my neck out and say here now that I believe the soldiers will be acquitted and that this will be seen for what I believe it is, a tragedy of war. I just hope that the issue does not stir up or give ammunition to the enemy without (the Taliban) and or the other front line and that is the enemy within: The usual "peacenik" activists and fools who cannot see that their way of life, including their right to be fools and side with the enemy's cause, is itself in jeopardy if we lose this war.

The effect that this will have and always has had on troops currently in the field is not only sobering for them but also just as concerning and destructive to the successful outcome of our military endeavours, This is a matter that needs to be dealt with "in house" and should not be a matter of such public debate until the facts are known and the the verdict is in. Even then, should it not be the right of a fighting army, fighting a war to win, to be able to keep that information to itself at least until the war is over? Or are newspaper sales just that much more important?

THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE!



As I type this rant, the so called independent minister, Rob Oakeshott, is in a meeting with his new overlord, and the PM will no doubt be making him an offer he probably couldn't refuse, even if he wanted to.

As a back bencher he would be earning approximately $132,000.00 a year and if he takes up the offer of a front bencher in the Gillard/Brown government then he stands to make an extra $102,900.00 extra per annum.

As a family man, with young children and as a man who faces electoral suicide due to his anti-conservative vote for the ALP last week, can I be excused for believing that he may well cash in his chips this way and take either a ministerial posting and maybe a cabinet position.

Hmmmmm a cabinet position, well that would certainly oblige him to confidentiality with the ALP and thus turns his claim as an "Independent" into nothing more than a joke.

I believe that if Rob Oakeshott really does want a future in politics then he should follow his leftist heart, take an ALP/Greens appointment and do it sooner than later as well as joining the ALP. Not sure what union he would need to sign up for but I am sure there would be a few looking for another paying member.

I say sooner than later because I agree with the likes of former ALP power broker Graham Richardson and former Liberal Leader, John Hewson who both stated today that this minority ALP/Greens government has no more than 18 months left to live:

Now that is certainly something worth hanging out for, another election, you beauty! and I am sure Oakeshott has considered this eventuality.

VALE DET SNR CST WILLIAM CREWS‏

(A NSW police officer shot and killed by Vietnamese drug dealer during raid)



It would be most remiss of me to not pay some kind of tribute to a man who is no doubt be extremely missed by many, many people in this country right at this moment and for many years to come. My heart goes out to his family, friends and colleagues and to state the obvious he is a hero in my book. Anyone who puts on the blue uniform, especially these days, has my utmost respect and obedience.

There is not much good that can come from such a tragedy except to say that the scum responsible will meet their just reward in the end and I have faith that Detective Senior Constable Will Crews will be standing before his maker with a sense of true pride, purpose and worth. A job well done officer, thank you for protecting us all.

OUR VIOLATED DEMOCRACY‏



I DON'T NEED TO SAY ANYTHING, THIS DRAWING SAYS IT ALL FROM ME AS FAR AS MY FEELINGS AND THOUGHTS ARE ABOUT THIS ILLEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT.

Australia, the land of Minority Rule!‏



Condolences Australia, your democracy means b*gger all! Why do I say this? simply because I have always and I believe most of us agree that it is generally understood that the basic principal of democracy is that the MAJORITY DECISION RULES. Well in our case of late, this is clearly not the case.

The Liberal National Coalition received more votes and more seats with the message to the Australian Labor Party, "we are not happy with your government!". Seems that message was heard but clearly thanks to our ridiculous electoral system of preference voting, we now have the most left wing and DANGEROUS SOCIALIST alliance in Canberra today.

I have tried to look for the method in the madness of the two so called "Independents" (what a joke that word now is!), Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott, and I can not see any reason for their backing of the ALP/Greens other than for personal gain.

The real truth that these two men need to realise is that they have spat in the eye of their constituency,a massively Conservative constituency, as well as the majority of voting Australians, by siding up with some of the most crazy and anti capitalistic people in the country.

There is no stable government at present, a minority federal government just cannot deliver such a thing. Therefore that argument holds no water with me and if these two "progressive trendsetting" MP's think that there will be any real parliamentary reform or economic success or have any of their issues dealt with in accordance with conservative ideology of their respective electorates, then they clearly do not understand the nature of the beast. They have laid down with dogs and will get up with fleas.

Tony Abbott is a Liberal hero and will be the next PM of Australia and I am sure that will be as a result of a real election and one not so far off as people think.

This is not sour grapes, this is a statement of fact and of reason and only those two things will get us out of the hell hole that we have just entered.

ONE MINUTE TO MIDNIGHT‏



We have been told that this weekend will be the last one we need to wait through before we will know just who will be running our country and economy for the next three years.

We have been listening to the undecided king or queen makers (Oakeshott, Windsor and Katter) tell us that it is all about stable government and that installing a stable government regardless of its ideology will be the marker for their choice?

Well in places like China, Cuba, North Korea, Iran, just to name a few, they would be considered as "stable governments" or as I would describe them, BIG GOVERNMENTS with Totalitarian/ Dictatorships as their base. So my point is that stable government sounds good but clearly it is not always what a healthy Western style democracy requires -- and with the most leftist incumbent government since Chifley, the new ALP/Greens coalition will certainly prove to be a big taxing socialist government as compared to the alternative, a more Conservative, small lower taxing government on offer from the Liberal/National Coalition.

Gough Whitlam would be very proud of the Communist progressive movement in this country and I am sure that even the former National Party Independents would not be unaware that the majority of their constituency did vote for a conservative member. Therefore you would think that an Abbott government would get the balance of power by a just a few seats. Alas I am really not convinced of that anymore.

I just hope that what I saw on a Sky news program a few nights ago, a round table interview with all three rural independents, will not lead to an ALP/Greens minority government being elected.

The body language, especially from Rob Oakeshott and Tony Windsor, along with all that was discussed, was certainly leaning to the left as the choice. I suspect that the deals have already been done and that this weekend is just a rest period and a regrouping for these blokes to work out just how they are going to break the bad news to the country.

God I do hope that I am wrong but I do think that the country will fall back into the socialist hands of power and it will be another three years of rape and pillage for our economy and our social way of life.

Trust your government to our safe hands!‏



Well here we are again NSW, this latest event in the long line of scandal and disgrace that is the New South Wales Labor government certainly gives new meaning to the old adage "idle hands are the devil's work".

Well it seem that this saying may take on a new meaning after we all found out yesterday of the disgraceful behaviour of NSW Ports Minister, Paul McLeay.

Clearly he did the right thing by resigning but then again what choice did he have? You couldn't cover up this one. Let's not forget that he still holds his seat and is still being paid our tax dollars to serve as a Minister.

WRONG, by-election or not, this character should be fired -- and isn't it about time that Premier Kristina Keneally stopped the madness and took a walk to the Governors office to request an election? At least she would then be remembered in the pages of our political history as a politician who wasn't anybody's GIRL -- or puppet -- rather as a person of courage and a sense of independence.

This indulgent MP, McLeay (he is married you know) can gamble online and surf the net for as much porn as he can get, it is not illegal and who am I to say that he should not?

Well I'll tell you who I am, I am one of the millions of fed up, over-taxed workers of New South Wales and this bloke's wages comes from my efforts and yours, everyday. When is it ever acceptable that a Minister of the Crown in one of the most important portfolios of government, Ports, is spending his duty time checking out the sexual explicitness of the Internet or gambling online when clearly this is not the mandate given by us the taxpayers, the people.

I do not except his apology (that is for his family to forgive) and neither will I accept the weak-kneed response from this Premier, for yet another of in a long laundry-list of failures, corruption, incompetence and scandal that is clearly business as usual for the NSW ALP.

Get your dirty hands of my state! ... Can you believe that we have to put up with this band of boneheads until March , 2011?