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The logic of fear: the paranoia accompanying war''s mediated rhetoric erodes our sense of belonging.

Article Excerpt
It is not quite a syllogism: `rogue states' have weapons of mass destruction, terrorist organisations want weapons of mass destruction, Australia must now help disarm Saddam Hussein's regime. My old philosophy tutor would not approve of John Howard's argument; there seems to be something other than logic at work here. In his speech for the National Press Club, delivered from the security of the Great Hall in Parliament House, the Prime Minister set out his now familiar position on why his Cabinet has sent troops into a never-mentioned `war' in Iraq and disregarded both the United Nations (a nest of self-interested spoilers) and the apparent will of the Australian populace (misguided do-gooders hoodwinked by rent-a-crowd lefties, probably lead by faceless and fashionable elites). A connecting term seems to be missing from Howard's argument. The link between the Al Qaida and Iraq remains associative, hinging on a mutual support for Palestinian suicide bombers. This is then transposed to an implied material support, the possible supply of biological, chemical or radiological...

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