All options are under the table

From John Quiggin;

There’s no strategy here, just hanging on and hoping things will change for the better. There’s no sign so far that the presence of 150 000 troops has done any good. The insurgency/resistance/terrorists are far more numerous now than they were a year ago. They gain legitimacy when they attack foreign occupiers, and lose it when they attack fellow-Iraqis. I hope that the new Iraqi government, when it emerges, will maintain its campaign commitment (watered down at the last minute) to demand a schedule for withdrawal, but if it doesn’t, Australia and Britain should be pushing the US to set one.

Much talk of the lack of a plan or an exit strategy, Beazley for one, who has not proposed a strategy. Downer reckons Labor's Iraq position is 'muddled and confused', but the marshmallow man himself was asked by the Brits on Jan 29 to send in more troops and said no, apparently.

Either they are lying or, the Australian Government are all over the f*cking place.

Bush called a big favour, no doubt. I see little good in this.

Update: Just now, on Lateline (Aus ABC), Howard actually said, "Seize the day!" in relation to what we can do to stop Iraq 'tipping' into civil war post election. What a dick!