Howard, war, politics, priorities
Prime Minister Howard was invited to the Washington coalition summit. He did not attend. There was a 20-minute phone call from Washington. Obviously Blair and Bush were deeply impressed by said phone call and it is mere oversight that they do not mention it in their communiqu�.

Australia gets one mention, on a level with Poland. It would be unkind to suggest that partisan advantage moved the prime minister to stay at home rather than join the summit. It would be equally unkind to suggest a prime minister whose first priority is supporting the troops might have questions and suggestions about the failure of Shock and Awe, the immediate future of this campaign or the tasking of Australian SAS squadrons in Iraq.

Of course it would be unkind to talk about the super-urgent ASIO bill. Remember that one? The bill whose rejection by the Senate last December was a grave threat to national security? More on the topic later...