April 25, 2004

BENNELONG TO BAGHDAD

Incoming! John Howard hits Iraq:

Prime Minister John Howard today made a surprise visit to Baghdad for Anzac Day services as around Australia tens of thousands of people honoured the Anzac spirit.

Under extraordinary security arrangements, Mr Howard flew to Iraq for his first visit since Australia sent troops as part of the US-led invasion force in March last year.

He was to attend a dawn service and spend some time talking to troops and other Australian representatives on the ground in the capital.

Australia has 90 air traffic controllers in Baghdad, plus a detachment of about 90 Army personnel and 53 soldiers who are in Iraq to assist in the training of the Iraqi armed forces.

The media will hate this. Especially once Howard tries to serve troops a plastic wallaby.

Posted by Tim Blair at April 25, 2004 01:46 PM
Comments

Good on ya, Mr Howard!

To overseas readers: If there is anything us Aussies hold sacred, it's ANZAC Day - much more so than Australia Day, for example. This will mean a lot to our soldiers both in Iraq and at home.

Posted by: Pixy Misa at April 25, 2004 at 02:05 PM

Well done, Prime Minister! That has made my ANZAC day.

Posted by: rite lane at April 25, 2004 at 02:10 PM

Nice 1 johnny

Posted by: Amos at April 25, 2004 at 02:13 PM

Well, in honor, or if you must, honour of this I think I'll try to make ANZAC biscuits. They might turn out to be plastic though. Now if I can just find golden syrup in Manhattan....

Posted by: David at April 25, 2004 at 02:45 PM

Here’s a recipe that advises honey as a Golden Syrup substitute.

Posted by: tim at April 25, 2004 at 02:53 PM

Good on Howard, and all our Aussie allies. Somehow I managed to work for not one but two Australian publishers in a previous life (no, not including "that one"), and thus know the importance of ANZAC Day. We had big parties in the office, to the somewhat puzzled joy of invited colleagues.

Kudos to Howard for courage and vision, to Australian forces in the field for service and sacrifice, all Australians for being true allies, and Tim for making us laugh!

Posted by: IceCold at April 25, 2004 at 02:53 PM

Mmmmm. Wallabies. Do they taste like opossum?

Posted by: Aaron at April 25, 2004 at 03:02 PM

I've read about ANZAC Day, and I have some understanding of what it means to those of you who live "Down Under". It's a grand thing that John Howard is doing. Your troops deserve this sign of support and respect.

Posted by: JeffS at April 25, 2004 at 03:19 PM

David, is this the golden syrup you mean? Though I am not familiar with the traditions of ANZAC day, I do know that Dean & Deluca in Soho have the golden syrup I linked to above. I noticed it when I was searching for black treacle for a recipe.

Anyway, good for Howard for making the trip.

Posted by: goldsmith at April 25, 2004 at 03:19 PM

No worries, mate! Just toss another plastic shrimp on the barbie!

Meanwhile, Pilger that there certainly weren't any shrimp, while Al-Jazeera says that not only were there no shrimp, the shrimp they didn't have were torn from the fingers of starving Iraqi children, while Andrew Gilligan announces that he at by the barbie and John Howard is nowhere near the barbie...

Posted by: Richard McEnroe at April 25, 2004 at 03:34 PM

Mmmm, ANZAC biscuits, I like. I like especially when they're soft and chewy. The trick there, I'm told, is to use more syrup.
Honey, syrup or treacle are all pretty much the same and can probably be used as substitutes for one another. Syrup really helps to give it that distinctive taste, though; treacle seems to me to be a better substitute than honey, though it's not as sweet.

Posted by: TimT at April 25, 2004 at 03:35 PM

boy that could have used a preview...

No worries, mate! Just toss another plastic shrimp on the barbie!

Meanwhile, Pilger declares that there certainly weren't any shrimp, while Al-Jazeera says that not only were there no shrimp, the shrimp they didn't have were torn from the fingers of starving Iraqi children, while Andrew Gilligan announces that he is by the barbie and John Howard is nowhere near the barbie...


Verbs help.

Posted by: Richard McEnroe at April 25, 2004 at 03:36 PM

Splendid news! May your troops be cheered and your country strengthened.

Australia/America: friends forever. We have a long history of looking out for the other's back. Don't know why I fancy this particular picture from the Korean Conflict, but I do. Maybe because it's gritty, maybe because they're smoking...

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

Posted by: Timothy Lang at April 25, 2004 at 03:47 PM

I can't get your link to work, Timothy.

Posted by: Donnah at April 25, 2004 at 03:52 PM

Here's the OzAmerica photo I tried to link to above. I think I screwed up on a "

Posted by: Timothy Lang at April 25, 2004 at 03:57 PM

Just paste the url in straight, Timothy.

Posted by: Andrea Harris at April 25, 2004 at 03:59 PM

Okay that's better. Always pay attention to your "s!

Posted by: Andrea Harris at April 25, 2004 at 04:00 PM

Nice one, Timothy.
Here's another from an earlier time.

Posted by: Donnah at April 25, 2004 at 05:35 PM

Hi.

ANZAC Day is also a good time to remember alliances and friendships that have endured. When I saw the the Spitfires I thought of the UK, and when I I was applauding Liberator guys I thought of America too. The list of guys who had been using American equipment would have been /long/.

Since a lot of what we remember and celebrate on this day is shared effort in he best of causes, thanks and celebratory good wishes to all those from countries that shared that effort. Bravo! Bravo! Bravo!

Posted by: David Blue at April 25, 2004 at 06:40 PM

Just saw Howard on the news in Iraq talking to my brother.

I hope all the leftie journo's hate it as much as my brother hates leftie journo's.

Good on Johhny

Posted by: Gilly at April 25, 2004 at 07:15 PM

Johnnie Howard, he's a top bloke.
Always been a tenacious little bastard.
The Yanks are doing it tough in the Middle East, let's hope the progress in that region is much quicker than the trench warfare of WWI.

Posted by: JR at April 25, 2004 at 10:02 PM


I like this.

There were reports of gunfire crackling in the background as the solemn Dawn ceremony was underway.

Mr Howard, the Man of Steel, was undeterred. When asked about it he said, "You just get on with what you're doing - that's the Australian way."

Good on ya mate.

Posted by: The Gnu Hunter at April 25, 2004 at 10:28 PM

Thanks goldsmith, once I saw that picture I knew what to look for. I had never heard of the stuff, but then I recognized it.

In fact I'd never heard of ANZAC biscuits until last night. Pixy Misa's first comment about the significance of ANZAC Day beyond the obvious sent me out looking, and I found the cookies too.

So I don't know how authentic I made them, but I like them. I wish I could upload some to have them checked out. I'll make some tea and make a toast.

Posted by: David at April 26, 2004 at 05:46 AM

As an American student who got to Australia (Sydney) a week before Australia Day and is leaving two weeks after Anzac Day, I, for one, definitely noticed how much more important Anzac Day is, as a part of the national memory. I felt quite out of place at the 12:30 Hyde Park ceremony, but I felt I had to experience it. I imagine it would be the same for an Australian in the US on Memorial Day, but perhaps even more so.

On a lesser note, The Australian's letters to the editors are chock full of good ol' turkey references.

Posted by: Josh Heit at April 26, 2004 at 05:08 PM

Once more, John Howard makes me proud of him and my country. Well done Mr Prime Minister!

It's a shame that so many of those in the media cannot admit how good a nation Australia is, and how we have always willing to assist in destroying evil regimes.

Posted by: Toryhere at April 26, 2004 at 05:28 PM