Might John Howard’s luck as leader of the “lackey
country” be about to run out? Of the “Three Amigos” who led the Coalition
of the Willing into Iraq, Howard alone has paid no political price for the unfolding
debacle.

Matt
Price reports that Kim Beazley told caucus this week
Iraq “could yet emerge to sway voters at the next election”. As to why
there has been no debate thus far, Price says: “Largely that’s been Labor’s
fault; they’re far too busy holding cardboard cut-outs to the camera and
flicking 2c coins to engage over the world’s most pressing and complicated
issue.”

Price only gets it half right because he is too kind to his media
colleagues – the politicians resort to stunts because journalists report them;
and the media have been derelict in their duty and absent without leave on
Iraq. As Paul
McGeough notes in the Herald, “George Bush … has
paid dearly – in blood, treasure and credibility”. True, and that has had
precious little to do with the Democrats, who at first supported the war, and
are still a divided rabble, bumbling and stumbling around trying to work out how
to handle the issue from here.

The debate in the US has been media
driven, from Seymour Hersch’s revelations about Abu Ghraib, to Jane
Mayer on “extraordinary rendition”, and the
revelations about the use of
White Phosphorous in Falluja, has come from the
media. It has also been the media leading the charge that Defence Secretary
Donald Rumsfeld didn’t put “enough boots on the ground” to handle the
post-invasion situation because he wanted to show how you could fight a
high-tech war with low-troop numbers.

All the Australian hacks and
commentators had to do was ask the obvious follow up questions: Was Australia
consulted about this, Mr Howard? Has Australia complained about the use of
torture? Did Australia approve of the “minimal troops on the ground” strategy?
Would it be better for the war effort if Rumsfeld was sacked?

The
unspoken reason for the lack of question may be that everyone knows the answer:
Australia is the lackey along for the ride, playing no significant role, as
McGeough points out.

That should be inexcusable for the political leaders
of any self-respecting, independent sovereign nation – it’s no excuse for the
silence of our media lambs, only more reason for them to do their job
properly.