Aussie veto stopped US war crimes

[cal04]

AUSTRALIA intervened to stop key US military strikes against Saddam Hussein's regime in Iraq, fearing they might constitute a war crime.

(snip)
The book also reveals that before the war, which started in March 2003, Australia made repeated efforts to get the US to focus on post-conflict planning in a more coherent way.

The lack of early US planning for the post-war phase in Iraq is seen to have contributed substantially to the violent disorder now being experienced there.

Australia also argued for the US to try to involve the UN as much as possible after the war. However, in a frank conversation with Foreign Minister Alexander Downer on April 1, 2003, US President George W.Bush said the US would get the blame for destroying Iraq and he did not want others coming to rebuild it.

"The UN can't manage a damn thing," Mr Bush told Mr Downer, recalling his visit to Kosovo, where the President found the UN personnel to be "a bunch of drunks".

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,20867,19947658-601,00.html

[reichstag911]

1. "...[T]he President found...

...the UN personnel to be 'a bunch of drunks?'" Well, he would know, wouldn't he?

[Debau2005]

2. Pot meet Kettle! nt