Australians have different slant

To the editor:

News from Australia explains some international views on the current U.S. administration.

As we arrived, a White House spokesman publicly hallucinated about a split in the Australian opposition party regarding Bush-Cheney policies when none existed. This meddling in Australian domestic politics was rejected by commentators and politicians of both parties alike -- exactly as would such Australian meddling in U.S. domestic politics.

Meanwhile, the ongoing detention and abuse by the United States of Australian citizens in Guantanamo Bay serves as a constant reminder of U.S. global arrogance. We heard about arrogant U.S. corporations suing Australian companies for name copyright, even when Australian uses pre-dated American use. A news article reminded Australians that the U.S. and Britain have reneged on their promises to rebuild war-torn Afghanistan. As presidential puppet Hamid Karzai tries to maintain order while he controls only Kabul, the rest of Afghanistan has fallen back under the control of al-Qaida and the warlords. Bush-Cheney, meanwhile, waste coalition lives chasing dreams of global domination in Iraq. Raising the terror alert level just as the Kerry-Edwards ticket received publicity was seen as a transparent ploy.

Australians generally are well-informed about what is happening in the United States and know that governments distort and lie to gain public support for reprehensible policies. There is little support for Australian Prime Minister Howard's endorsement of the Bush-Cheney War in Iraq.

ALAN JOURNET, Cape Girardeau