A Controversial Little Comment

[Telionis]

Ultimately the only reasoning was retaliation, the USA needed to flex their muscle and all of their allies really had no choice but to go along with it.

Very good to hear your point of view though

First of all, flex our muscle? But it wasn't really a fight (not like in 1991 when Iraq was a serious player in the middle-east). Furthermore, we kicked their military's ass, only to get bogged down and lose people daily to the insurgantes, that makes us look like fools, not tough-guys. I can only hope Bush isn't that crazy as to have invaded a nation to show the world how large our byceps are.

Also, retaliation? For what? Trying to kill Bush Sr 10 years ago? That's quite possible, unfortunatly. If they could prove that, Bush Jr should be executed for high crimes and treason. You can't drag the whole nation into war, kill 10,000 of our boys, kill 100,000 innocent Iraqis, cost us 300 billion US, all because you're pissed off at the enemy's leader. That's certainly an act worthy of a firing squad if that the case (and I'm against capital punishment), but we'll never know.

Ummm, actually she is our head of state.

Since you've got a popularly elected government (unless I'm very mistaken), how then are you not a Republic? Simply in name???

Edited 16/04/07 04:50 AM by Telionis

[tab]

I was referring to the 9/11 retaliation, that was where the whole "war on terror" came from.

And yes we are still a monarchy, but it's a mere formality and really means f*ck all Don't forget that only a few hundred years ago this continent was nothing more than a convict settlement, nowhere near the same heritage that exists in every other country in the world.

[Telionis]

bring on conscription - improve oz's position to protect itself and get the unemployed doing something productive

Excuse the ignorance, but do you guys actually have any problems with anyone? As a Greek descendant I intimately understand the Greek-Turk conflict and know that the two could go at it at any time, and as an American, well nobody really likes us... plus if Earth is ever invaded, everyone will expect us to fight off the Aliens as per every single sci-fi movie we've made...

But the Aussies, nobody dislikes you guys and you guys have no problems with anyone, right? I mean, don't tell me that if you had a larger army you'd go kick Malaysia's ass or something!?! Honestly I have no idea... just curious as to why you would need more protection. Aside from China randomly deciding to conquer the entire south pacific like Japan tried to in the 1930s, who would possibly harass the Aussies?

Edited 16/04/07 05:11 AM by Telionis

[Telionis]

I was referring to the 9/11 retaliation, that was where the whole "war on terror" came from.

And yes we are still a monarchy, but it's a mere formality and really means f*ck all Don't forget that only a few hundred years ago this continent was nothing more than a convict settlement, nowhere near the same heritage that exists in every other country in the world.

So how do you decide how a representative is elected, what people that representative represets, how many representatives there are, and what powers they collectivly have? Are you saying there is no equivalent of our constitution? No document that defines how your government operates? It's all just based on tradition?

Edited 16/04/07 05:13 AM by Telionis

[tab]

We are a single continent country with a massive amount of unprotected coastline. It wouldn't really take that much for an invasion by north korea for example....that churn out troops in the hundreds of thousands.

It would be all over before any of our allies (that are all on the other side of the world) could step in to lend a hand. Not a pleasant thought.

Yes it’s a fairly extreme scenario, but we’ve been fairly close once before.

[tab]

So how do you decide how a representative is elected, what people that representative represets, how many representatives there are, and what powers they collectivly have? Are you saying there is no equivalent of our constitution? No document that defines how your government operates? It's all just based on tradition?

There’s still three tiers of government (local, state, and national) that are all independently and democratically elected. The political party with the most politicians elected is given the control of the government. It’s based on the Westminster system (or whatever it is), same as the UK.

We have a Prime Minister (as opposed to your president) who is the leader of the majority that govern, and then there’s a Governor General who is the Queens representative and is appointed by the Prime Minister. All new legislation etc. is given the Royal Ascent by the Governor General, but it’s nothing more than a formality.

So in a nutshell yes we have a constitution and are self-governing, but still a monarchy for no apparent reason!

[Chooka]

Teacher Tab!!

Chooka

[tab]

Have you learnded anyfing?

[Chooka]

Actually you are doing a very good job Trent Knew most of it but could not articulate it correctly!

Chooka

[Telionis]

We are a single continent country with a massive amount of unprotected coastline. It wouldn't really take that much for an invasion by north korea for example....that churn out troops in the hundreds of thousands.

It would be all over before any of our allies (that are all on the other side of the world) could step in to lend a hand. Not a pleasant thought.

Yes it’s a fairly extreme scenario, but we’ve been fairly close once before.

Maybe China is a danger, but you guys would own NK. They have a ton of troops, but can barely equip them, much less transport them to Australia. Furthermore, with their logistics, the bush (brush, outback?) the wild would eat them alive. In fact, they may have tried it and nobody realized.

Also, whether its based on a realistic view of Australia or just what we know from Steve Irwin (RIP) and Paul Hogan, Americans love Australia. They think of it as a cooler more fun-loving USA. They might have no idea that Sydney is not the capital, in fact, they might not know that Sydney is in Australia, in fact, they might not know that Sydney is not referring to a person that decided to spell her name differently to be cool... but they still love ya'll. If you ask any American what other countries they actually care about, (if he realizes there are other countries... j/k), he'll almost certainly say Canada, England or Australia, (maybe Japan, especially if he is a typical Honda boy, or maybe NZ if he knows that's not a state in the south-west US). So I gurantee, we'd be over there to back you guys up in no time, and I'm sure you can count on mother England just as much, as well as the rest of your fellow commonwealth nations. I understand that everyone wants to be self-sufficient, but whether or not you are, you're certainly not more than a day or two from help like it or not, (and how far can a North Korean tank drive in a day or two, what, 5-10 miles at top speed???). Shoot, the French might even come (maybe... if the weathers nice... depends on who else is going) - we'll try to keep Germany out of it since they have only two modes, peace and World War.

(I don't mean to come across implying that you guys need us for protection, I'm just saying that whether or not you want us there, the rest of the English speaking world would be there to back you guys up).

Edited 18/04/07 04:57 AM by Telionis