Lost for words
Anthony Albanese once warned against US-led pre-emptive strikes. Two decades later, he’s backing them — albeit after a confused 24-hour pause.
Anthony Albanese once thundered against “pre-emptive” military action by the United States, denouncing John Howard for joining the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
“Unilateralism can never be the basis of a satisfactory world model,” the then-third-term MP declared on the eve of the invasion. “And pre-emptive action should not involve the use of military power.”
Fast forward two decades and the now prime minister finds himself not so much opposing unilateralism as lagging awkwardly behind it. When Donald Trump ordered highly pre-emptive strikes on Iranian nuclear facilities over the weekend, it took Albanese 24 hours to cobble together a response.
Eventually, Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong fronted the cameras on Monday to declare Australia’s support for US strikes, with the prime minister saying, “The world has long agreed that Iran cannot be allowed to get a nuclear weapon, and we support action to prevent that”.
