Canberra, Oct 23: US President George W. Bush today defended the Iraq war and declared that Australia had a "special responsibility" to shoulder a regional security role that has made some of its neighbours nervous. "Security in the Asia-Pacific region will always depend on the willingness of nations to take responsibility for their neighbourhood, as Australia is doing," Bush said in a speech to lawmakers here.
His remarks came a day after he again described Australia as a "sheriff" patrolling the Southeast Asian frontier of the war on terrorism which Washington declared after the September 11, 2001 attacks. Hundreds of protestors thronged outside Australia's Parliament, some clutching placards declaring the US leader "an evil guy". Two Senators inside were ordered out of the chamber after they heckled him during his speech.
"I love free speech," Bush quipped to laughter and applause after the speaker ordered Senator Kerry Nettle escorted out. Nettle, like Senator Bob Brown before her, refused to leave. "We are not a 'sheriff'!" shouted Brown, whose green party has been fiercely critical of the US-led war to topple Saddam Hussein and of Australian Prime Minister John Howard's decision to contribute troops to that campaign.
In his remarks, Bush countered, "America, Australia, and other nations acted in Iraq to remove a grave and gathering danger, instead of wishing and waiting while tragedy grew closer." Bureau Report