13 November, 2001

“It is a deplorable decision by National to reconsider its support of the Government’s anti-terrorist position and therefore of our elite soldiers who may at this moment be engaged in this war,” according to New Zealand First leader Winston Peters.

“National’s new leader has ill-advisedly seized upon these grave events to engage in politicking at the expense of our international reputation. What will President Bush, or our neighbour John Howard think of these latest utterings of Bill English?,” Mr. Peters asked.

“This is a time when we should be united in support of our troops in their battle for our freedom, not a time for a party with a proud history to take a purely political stance on the whim of an inexperienced leader. It is a national disgrace,” Mr. Peters said.

ENDS

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Gordon Campbell: On the Sony cyber attack

Given the layers of meta-irony involved, the saga of the Sony cyber attack seemed at the outset more like a snarky European art film than a popcorn entry at the multiplex.

Yet now with (a) President Barack Obama weighing in on the side of artistic freedom and calling for the US to make a ‘proportionate response’quickly followed by (b) North Korea’s entire Internet service going down, and with both these events being followed by (c) Sony deciding to backtrack and release The Interview film that had made it a target for the dastardly North Koreans in the first place, then ay caramba…the whole world will now be watching how this affair pans out. More>>