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Politics : DON'T START THE WAR -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Thomas M. who wrote (5380)	2/5/2003 3:10:43 AM
From: ForYourEyesOnly	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 25898

No-confidence vote for Australian PM Decision to deploy troops has been met with protests The Australian Senate has passed a historic no-confidence motion against the prime minister over his handling of the Iraqi crisis. John Howard and his Conservative-Liberal coalition were censured for deploying troops to the Gulf ahead of a possible war against Iraq. John Howard has let this nation down Senator Bob Brown Opposition and minor parties joined forces to pass the motion against Mr Howard by 33 to 31 votes. The motion has no legislative clout, but is considered an important symbolic gesture as it is the Senate's first no-confidence vote in a serving leader in its 102-year history. Mr Howard - a staunch US ally - has said the deployment of troops does not mean that Australia has decided to support any war with Iraq. Support for troops The senate debate on Iraq began on Tuesday, as several hundred anti-war protesters demonstrated outside the building. Inside, several senators accused Mr Howard of sending troops to the Gulf without any explanation to parliament or the Australian people. "The prime minister has made a unilateral decision and sent 2,000 of our defence personnel off to a war undeclared in the northern hemisphere without any cogent explanation of his actions," the Labor Party's leader in the senate, John Faulkner, said. Mr Howard has defended his decision in the past, saying the pre-positioning of forces increased the "likelihood of (the crisis) being resolved peacefully". But Greens Senator Bob Brown accused Mr Howard of "letting the nation down". "His gross mishandling of Australia's involvement deserved the strongest parliamentary rebuke," he said. While censuring the government, the motion expressed the senate's full support for Australia's troops. The motion also declared opposition to any unilateral US attack on Iraq, and insisted the disarmament of Iraq should be carried out under UN authority. The debate on Iraq is continuing in the lower house of parliament, where the governing coalition holds a majority.