Overheard in Australia, Bush tells minister 'we're kicking ass' in Iraq

John Byrne

Published: Wednesday September 5, 2007





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Things are going well in Iraq, according to President George W. Bush.

Upon his arrival in Sydney Wednesday, Deputy Australian Prime Minister Mark Vaile "inquired politely" about his stopover in the war-torn country.

"We're kicking ass," Bush said.

The remark was overheard by a reporter for the Sydney Morning Herald and caught by an Australian blog.

According to the paper, Bush arrived in Australia in a "chipper mood."

"Despite his unpopularity in" Australia, the paper said, "Bush used yesterday's media conference with [Prime Minister John] Howard to try to bolster the Prime Minister's electoral prospects in the next poll. Labor was quite happy at the spectre of one unpopular leader backing another but should not underestimate the defiance and polished performance Bush is able to muster. On Iraq, climate change, Kyoto and nuclear power, he backed Howard to the hilt. He claimed diplomatically he did not want to interfere in the Australian election and said he looked forward to today's meeting with Kevin Rudd," leader of the Australian Labor Party.

"Apart from his introductory remarks, Howard never spoke during the press conference," the paper added. "It was the George W. Bush show."

The Herald asserted that Howard's staunch position backing the Iraq war "is growing."

"He implied that those who argued against the war in the first place had no role in the current debate," the article said.



