GinandTonic
Saphire w/ Schweps + Lime
- Joined
- May 25, 2005
- Messages
- 8,898
I'ld hardly call 45,000 people a handful, but this is off topic.
Is any news station "fair and balanced"?
I'ld hardly call 45,000 people a handful, but this is off topic.
The Pentagon is in the midst of an internal debate over how quickly to reduce the US military presence in Iraq.
General David Petraeus, the US commander, has cautioned against drawing down the 155,000-strong US force below 15 combat brigades, or about 130,000 to 140,000 troops, in the latter half of this year.
Gates' three day visit to Australia comes just days after its government, a steadfast US ally, announced it will pull out a third of its 1,500 troops in Iraq at mid-year as part of a broader shift in its military posture.
Australia's Prime Minister Rudd campaigned on a promise to bring Australian troops home from Iraq, but US defense officials said he has consulted closely with the Americans before announcing the plans to pull 500 troops from southern Iraq.
In both Iraq and Afghanistan, where about 1,000 Australian troops are currently deployed as part of a NATO-led force, Australia is looking at a change in focus from combat to what they see as a "whole government approach" to those conflicts.
That would involve contributing more trainers, participating in provincial reconstruction teams and helping the government become more effective in delivering services.
Nearly 700 Australian troops in Afghanistan, including 390 special forces troops, are in the south where the NATO-led force has faced a tough challenge from rising insurgent violence.
G&T isn't Australian, he's a Brit.45,000? Are you sure we are talking about the same Australia?
Yes. In fact, it wasn't all that long ago that all of them were.
You mean besides the major networks, McNeil Lehrer, and BBC, just to name a few available in the US?
I mean now.
You mean besides the major networks, McNeil Lehrer, and BBC, just to name a few available in the US, never mind stations like Al Jazeera and most of the other international news sources?
In fact, if you exclude all the talking head commentary, all of the cable 24/7 sources do a reasonable job of being fair and balanced other than Fox...
Did he actually give any specific reasons for this point of view?to the average Fox News watcher, NPR makes them go crazy, I got a guy in my class (a diehard Republican) to listen to it and he said it was was the most slanderous hate filled program that ever existed and said we should shoot them all...
Al-Jazeera isn't unbiased. They're clearly antiUS.
to the average Fox News watcher, NPR makes them go crazy, I got a guy in my class (a diehard Republican) to listen to it and he said it was was the most slanderous hate filled program that ever existed and said we should shoot them all...