War is going 'extremely well', says Howard
Howard declined to attend the summit with Bush and Blair on the Iraq war despite being invited to do so and failed to offer increased military strength to the war effort, despite the fact that the USA plan for the blitzkrieg conquest of Iraq is a debacle and will now require much more time and massively increased forces, if it can be achieved at all. This is one of the most significant signs of a crack in Howard's hitherto unconditional support for the war effort and the 'American alliance'. Normally he would be expected to be delighted and flattered to be in the company of his powerful friends. The questions for Howard are, how long will Australian forces remain committed to the war? Will they participate in the siege and bombardment of Baghdad? Will he consider a ceasefire and negotiated settlement of the conflict? Will Aust forces participate in the occupation of Iraq after the war is over? Will Mr Howard rule out a preemptive or preventive attack on Iran, Syria or North Korea?

War is going 'extremely well', says Howard
Howard declined to attend the summit with Bush and Blair on the Iraq war despite being invited to do so and failed to offer increased military strength to the war effort, despite the fact that the USA plan for the blitzkrieg conquest of Iraq is a debacle and will now require much more time and massively increased forces, if it can be achieved at all. This is one of the most significant signs of a crack in Howard's hitherto unconditional support for the war effort and the 'American alliance'. Normally he would be expected to be delighted and flattered to be in the company of his powerful friends. The questions for Howard are, how long will Australian forces remain committed to the war? Will they participate in the siege and bombardment of Baghdad? Will he consider a ceasefire and negotiated settlement of the conflict? Will Aust forces participate in the occupation of Iraq after the war is over? Will Mr Howard rule out a preemptive or preventive attack on Iran, Syria or North Korea?